The log cabin Democrat., 1911-04-06

again that whole herds are improbable because of the presence of a lot of un- profitable cows
 Building Up a Dairy Herd.
 As a starter toward building up . good dairy herd records should be kept of each cows yearly production of milk and butter fat. A pair Of spring scales can be purchased for S3.50 or less and a Babcock tester for determining the per cent of fat in milk can be purchased at price ranging from $45O to S10, depending upon the size selected.
 One should begin by requiring each COW to produce at least the equivalent of 250 pounds of butter yearly to be entitled to a place in the herd, but this requirement. should be raised each year. However, it sometimes happens that during some years certain COWS do not have an opportunity to demon strate what they can do on account of sickness and other causes, and in such cases the judgment of the owner should determine whether or not they shall be given another trial A heifer that produces as much as 250 pounds of butter in year should not be discarded As a rule heifers should be mixed for at least two lactation periods before judgment is passed upon them.
 TubercuIin Test
 When buying cows it should be in sisted that they be tuDerculin tested. The introduction of cows into the herd that have tuberculosis may be the cause of spreading the disease to others in the herd ;n this manner whole herds have been ruined. The herd should be tested for tubercu- losis at least once each year, and if any animals respond to the test they should be destroyed
 Importance of a Good Bull
 A great many dairymen supply milk trade for some city or town. and make no attempt to raise their heifer calves. In the discussion of the subject it is taken for granted that all heifer calves are raised, at least those from the best COWS. This is the surest and best way to build up a herd of dairy cows. Taking it for granted that the heifer calves from the best COWS are to 0e raised, and if in the pure-bred business, the bull calves to be raised also, one thing Of prime importance is that a good pure bred bull of one of the dairy breeds be used. Do not use beef or scrub bull for dairy purposes. The buli should not only be pure-bred and from one of the dairy breeds, but he should be a good individual himself and have ancestors that were good producers. His dam should be COW that pro duced the equivalent of more than 400 pounds of butter yearly and his sire should come from a COW that was an even better producer. The bull should have a good constitution, as shown by a deep, broad chest, and he should be vigorous and masculine in appearance, as shown by strong head and neck In other words, he should give no in. dications of being feminine in char acter. The man who is breeding for dairy cattle has no use for the grade or scrub bull. Even though a grade bull comes from good producing an ceStors, he cannot transmit those qualities with as great degree Of certainty as can pure-bred bull whose ancestors have been bred for generation after generation in one particular line. that of milk produc tion. A bull is at least one-half the herd for he has a chance to influence the characters of one-half the indi- viduals born into the herd, and if he is very prepotent he is even more than one-half of the herd. because in that case he has greater influence upon the progeny than do the fe- males.
 While it Is important that the bull be a pure-bred it is not necessity that the cows be pure breds. Good grade cows with dairy blood predomi- hating will answer all purposes for milk production For the average farmer it is perhaps best to start out with two or three pure-bred cows in addition to the grades and then grad ually build up a herd of pure breds by keeping all of the heifer calves from such animals. Pure-breds will sell for better prices than grades and the purebred bull calves can also be sold for breeding purposes at profita- ble prices.
 great many of the Southern states are fast becoming recognized for their advancement along dairying lines, and Arkansas should not fall behind in this respect