Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1911-02-23
SIRE IS HALF THE HERD.
His Importance in Producing Good
Dairy Stock Underestlmated.
p. Whitney. Former Instructor in
Dairying, State Agricultural Col
lege of Washington.


their milk. Any kind of a sire woult
came to considering the offspring, thu
sire was never taken into considera
ton. A heifer was saved from The
herd because her dam was a gooC
producer, and when perhaps no one
knew or even cared from what sire
she came. The poor dairy sire, then
is directly responsible for our hav
ing so many improbable COWS at the
present time.
THE sire is half the herd" is 9
saying, the truth of which is voucheC
for by all progressive dairymen, anC
in the using of a good, pure-breC
sire on grade cows, as the great ma
jority Of the dairymen should do, he
is more than half the herd" for his
characteristics are firmly fixed by
continued breeding along the same
lines, while those of grade COWS are
not, and his characteristics appear
much more prominent in the off
spring.
In selecting dairy sire, the fol
lowing points should be considered:
Cd pedigree, (2) purity of breeding,
(3) type, "a prepotency, and (5)
health.
Purity of Breeding: Under no con
sideration should anything but a
pure-bred sire be used. We cannot
discard the grade COW, for there is
but very small per cent of the COWS
that are pure-bred, and they could
not begin to supply the demand for
dairy products, but as one sire is
enough. for about forty cows, and as
he alone will have as much or more
influence on the offspring as will the
entire forty cows, it can readily be
seen that it is quite possible to meet
the demand for sires from the pure
bred herds that we have and also to
see that purity of breeding is Of
much more Importance in the sire
than in the dam.
Pedigree: Dairymen, as rule, save
the heifers from their best COWS,
realizing that they will make better
COWS than would the heifers from the
poor cows. The same thing is true
of the dairy sire, that is, the better
his ancestry is the better he should
be. First of all, one should consider
the merit of his sire's mother as pro-
ducer, also the daughters Of his sire,
and grandsire. All of the females, as
far back as they can be traced, should
be considered. The further back
continuous records can be traced the
better for the animal.
Type: By all means, select a sire
that is distinctly masculine. This is
noticeable in the head and back of
the animal. He should have a bold,
bright eye, and well arched, mas
culine neck. From the shoulders
backward he should have the same
general outline as the dairy COW. He
should carry no surplus flesh, but
should always be a strong, vigorous,
active animal.
Prepotency: Prepotency is the
term that signifies the power which
an animal possesses of transmitting
it's characteristics to its offspring.
Unless a dairy sire is prepotent, he
is useless, no matter how fine an in
dividual he may otherwise be. The
purer the breeding the more likely he
IS to be preponent, other things be-
ing favorable. The full value of a |
dairy sire is never known until he
has heifers at the producing age, and
for this reason a middle-aged bull is
much better than young one that
has no descendants. A good individ- |
lal should never be destroyed until |
ne is too old for service.
Health: The health of the dairy
sire must be given careful considera-
ion. Any predisposition to disease
makes him useless, for this would .
more than likely be transmitted to
his offspring. He must be free from
contagious diseases, as it is possible |
or the sire to scatter contagious dis
Ease to all animals in the herd in a
'ery short time, and extreme care
S necessary in handling and caring
or him.
We are facing a shortage of dairy
'ows in the United States and if
nan expects to have a good herd of
ows he must raise them rather than
'uy them. For this reason the dairy
ire should be selected with the
,reatest care, and the points which
ave been discussed in preceding
paragraphs should be carefully con-
idered