Oxford Democrat., 1913-09-09
The Head of the Herd.


The one way, however, that seems
/ open to the average dairyman TO i'm
prove bis herd is in the selection of the
herd sire. First of all he should select
him for his individuality; be should be
masculine throughout his entire make
up. 1t should never be forgotten that
his heifers will ''take after fathers
folks" SO one should look we'll to "fath-
er's folks" seeing that he is pure bred,
coming from dam who is producer;
! and II his sire has sired record daugh-
ters, the chances are that the sons heif-
ers will likewise be good milk and but
terfat producers.
A pedigree is of value only if it is
backed by good Inheritance. And q
sire will not transmit qualities TO his Off
spring unless he himself is a strong indl-
yidual. His individuality will be shown
by his strength, character, intelligence,
vigor, stamina and the degree of refiue-
ment and nervous force he possesses.
His strength will DO shown by his crest,
his strong neck and his short, straight,
well defined spine. He should have
short, straight, we'll set fore legs; his
withers should be strong, though not
coarse; and if he has large heart girth
and we'll sprung ribs the chances are
that he has a good constitution and good
digestive powers.
A bull will show his character by the
alert, active lively, watchful expression
of his eyes, and one can judge hs intel
ligence by the general expression of his
head. like TO see good, wide fore
head, with large, intelligent, clear eyes
aud strong broad muzzle.
He will show his nervous force" by
his wstchful expression; he will be con-
stsntly aware of all that is going on
around him. Most folks call this an
"ugly disposition"-''o ness" is the
popular word in this section-snd this
trait is often the result of careless, i'm
proper handling.
One trait that good sire should have
is stamina, and he will show this by his
determined expression and by his active
readiness for service. A sire with sta
NINA will DO prepotent; he will have the
ability to transmit to his offspring the
qualities for which his ancestors were
noted. A sire, DO his pedigree ever so
long, is not fit to be head of the herd
unless he has stroug masculine indivi-
duality and strong, impressive blood.
Another point that it is well to look
for is the size and placing of his rudi-
mentsries. They should be large and
placed well forward of the scrotum. The
chances are that sire showing large,
well placed rudimentaries will transmit
to his heifers large udders and we'll
placed tests.
Cooperative cow testing associations
are doing good work in showing dairy
men what each cow is producing in the
way of milk and butter fat and just
which cows are paying them a profit.
Some dairymen have found that some
cows are bringing them in small or no
profits above the cost OF feed. Perhaps
some men are content with the glory
they derive from getting close TO nature
twice day aud milking cows; but most
of US want 10 see little more money
added to our bank accounts. The only
way that seems open for increasing pro-
ductiop and profits is by the use of good
sires on our best paying cows, and thus
grading upward the quantity of our milk
and profi,s.-Charles X. Rinck, Tester,
Rising Sun Dairy Improvement Asso-
citation, Maryland,