The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1912-01-05

ing ulin 90 through tie ulanou-
vers' of doing business. but bring
very little if any profit,
The old method Of obtaining
herd was to purchase such COWS as
one could get, go ahead, weed out
and keep up the process Of buying.
wedding out and selling. Aud
some still follow this practice. Now
[ know from my own practical ex-
perience that there is safer and
much better way or securing a
good herd of COWS, and that is for
one to grade them up himself. To
select and breed from the mass of
haphazardly bred COWS such as one
can buy is a slow and difficult task,
aud to purchase selections of the
best from any of the pure breeds
is very expensive and quite beyond
the reach of the man with an ordi-
nary amount of means. With the
above mentioned facts in view. !
have the following suggestions to
offer:
Fix in mind three kinds of COWS
that will be best adapted to your
conditions. IF it is milk for the
city meat market or cheese factory,
the Holstein kind of COWS will
probably suit best. If it is to
make first class butter foJ special
trade or private customers, the
Jersey or Guernsey will meet the
requirements. Instead of buying
the pure-bred COWS of any of these
breeds, select the best within reach
of the COWS you have or can buy
handily and buy good bull of the
breed that suits or breed them to
such bull, and save the heifer
calves from the best COWS to raise
and make COWS for future use.
When the first heifers are old
enough. breed them to another
good bull of the breed selected,
and continue to do 80. wedding out
the poor ones (for the poor ones
you will always have with you,)
and by the time four or five eros
ses have been made with good
bulls one can possess a herd that
for all practical purposes will be
as good as the pure-breds. I have
tried this method thoroughly and
have found it to work out Just as
/ have mentioned.
In selecting bull of the dairy
breeds there are several things that
should he borne in mind. Ancest-
raj influence in dairy cattle is of
great value. At the present time
breeders of pure-bred animals keep
a record of what the individual
COWS are doing, and If one will
study these records OH the sides of
both parents of the bull he wishes
to buy, he can make sure OF an in
fluence that will be of great value.
1t may not be best to be penny
wise in regard to price, for a few
pints of milk added each day of
the lactation period and every year
of the cows life foot up to consid-
erable proportions before you are
through with her. The same is
true of the butter COW. A bull
calf with good backing on both
sides is capable of improving the
stock in a herd and in a neighbor-
hood to such an extent that the
purchase price may be liberal and
yet be very cheap. One other point
is constitutional, vigor and a good
appetite. The very best and
strongest are the only ones to use.
After having started in the grad
ing up process, 10 not change the
breeds. Continue with the breed
with which you have started. a
single out.oross, although from a
good specimen of another breed, is
likely to prove disastrous. The
beneficial results of q continuous
grading with one breed may be H.
Illustrated by the results obtained