The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-12-19
BREEDING UP A DAIRY HERD.
Stock Needs the PrepOtency Of a Breed
Ancesrv,


"If / had that bull back I would not
take $1,000 for him He got big and
hard to handle, and let him 60 to a
butcher for $40, but everyone Of his
heifers turned out to be great mixer,
and had l had the sense to have kept
him and line bred his stock, / would
have a record breaking dairy, as / can
now we'll see" This mans experience,
writes John Gould in the New York
Tribune Farmer, is 70 different from
that OF scores OF Others who follow the
custom Of keeping sire only one or
two years at the most and then getting
something else with almost a sure pos
sibility that the good influence Of the
first sire is halved up by the second,
which means in reality the loss Of all
ground previously gained.
The prevailing custom OF commun-
ity is hard thing to overcome with d
new practice, especially in the breeding
of dairy COWS; notably where, for two
on more generations, it had been the
practice Of custom to ignore breed lines
in securing even the heifers to make the
dairy numbers good; assd all the more so
when sires were changed every year. and
| if sire of dairy breeding was procured
he went the next year the same as the
brindle one had the year before, and he
was in turn followed by yellowand-
white sire Of unknown ancestry because
he was cheap in price, and his calves
were to be sold for "bobs' anyway,
Such a plan never increases the value
of stock beyond the range Of Gamers
prices. and now that there is an awaken
ing to the fact that dairy stock needs
the prepotency Of a breed ancestry be-
hind il the greatest danger threatens
that the old custom will be kept in
partial practice at least and the his
tory Of our friends sire will be re-
peated over and over b1d retrograde
condition will result, and even tie grades
Of merit will be graded on degraded,
by the use of sires Of unknown quail
ity.
often the remrk is made: 4 cannot
afford to have high-bred stock, / must
raise grades" Then all the more es-
sential is it that only sires Of the best
are used and kept as long as possible.
With sire Of strong blood lines, and
developed vitality, there viii be no nee
essity with grade cows Of an outcross
for three generations at least, and the
third generation will be s712 per cent.
81 the intensified and reinforced blood
OF the sire, and to all practical pur-
poses the equals Of pure-bred stock and
at no more cost than the common stock
he had supposed he must always pos
sess The history of-all high-class breed
z fy &c rfslrawn ff#tls In y
tude has been give into the introduce
ton Of new sires, keeping 70 the line
even of one family of breed and not
getting scared in breeding now and then
heifers back 10 their own sire to double
the proficiency of the milking function.
In this vicinity there is a great de-
mand for high grades Of a certain breed
OF dairy stock, and month-oid heifer
calf Of grade COW, If il had thor.
ourhbred sire from the same family
breed brings the price Of a horses but
the calf Of a grade COW, mated with an
unknown bred grade, brings veal prices
and no more In this intensifying the
blood Of a grade BY the influence Of a
pure-bred lies the whole success Of the
uplift Of our dairy; and if the customs
Of the past are to prevail, with frequent
changes Of sires. and sires Of unknown
quality, and mixtures Of blood, the last
condition Of this dairying viii be as I'M
satisfactory as the FIRST.
For the dairyman he needs only the
one thought and purpose in mind, that
Of dairy breed and type Of the breed,
and to keep in that line with sires OF
strong dairy prop0tenev and of the
same breed as are the COWS. Dual pur-
pose is stumbling block to him What
does he want Of beef steer or beef
in any paying for, when a 20-mouth-old
hefer, well bred, will to-day, in sight
Of my house, buy three steers of equal
age And why should this man want
to mix dairy breeds, when he gains moth
ing in production and decreases the
value Of the mix SO per cent?