Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1913-03-11
Breeding Up Dairy Herds.

The farmer who wishes to build up q
herd OF high producing cows to take the
place Of the very ordinary herd which be
is now keeping, has two courses open to
him.
The first course, which will in time
give him high-grade herd but not a
"blooded" herd, 10 simply to buy high.
class, pure-blooded bull Of the particular
breed desired, and of ancestry with high
producing records, and grade up the
herd by improving the blood of each sue
ceeding generation of heifers. II the
use of q high bred bull on neighborins:
farm can be secured, the same object
will be accomplished. The first genera,
tion OF heifers, after the necessary selec.
ton and culling has been made, should
show great deal of improvement over
the mixed herd which the farmer may
have been keeping, and should give hin,
a satisfactory return on his Investment
for Improvement by reason of the in
creased production of milk or cream, or
whatever he may have bred for.
Following this practice, the farmer or
dairyma will soon have a high-grade
working herd, and in many respects it
may serve him just as we'll as pure
bred herd. This line of practice must
be kept up, however, and a pure.bred
sire must be used as faithfully as if the
dairymsn was keeping a herd of pure
breds, until in time he has herd Of
cows which are practically pure-breo,
but without the name and the credit Ct
being pure.
II he has a relapse in following this
line of breeding, the results may be very
disastrous. The farmer may get q fine
young grade bull from some high pro-
ducing COW, and may be tempted to
raise up that bull and use him as the
head Of the herd for a time. His ap-
parent excellence as an individual should
not, however, weigh against his lack Of
purity in the blood line which predomi-
mates.
In the present state of our knowledge
regarding breeding principles, there is
enough uncertainty regarding results
when the absolutely pure-bred sire is
used. That uncertainty should not he
increased by the introduction of even
the smallest amount OF alien blood, for
where those blood lines are brought to-
gether, as in the breeding of male ard
female grades together, the progeny is
more likely to deteriorate than TO irn-
prove.
The disadvantage of this method is
that the animals which 1t is desired to
sell out of the herd must 60 at grade
prices. Practically all the expense of
the high bred bull must be borne by the
milk produced by the COWS, while it is
almost certain that some of the calves
will be bulls and worth very little.
The herd also will always be a grade
herd, and If the breeder wants pure
bred herd be will have to start right
back at the point where he commenced
In the first place and start In the same
way that he might have started then.
In q grade herd, also, 1t will be neces-
sary to do more rigid oulling and selec.
tion iu breeding and raising up the heif-
ers, while the bulls must go as veal, no
matter how excellent they appear as in
dividual animals. 1t is to the practice
of raising and using just such bulls as
may come out of herd like this suppos-
ititious herd, that we may attribute a
good deal OF the deterioration Of our
dairy herds.
In following this line of breeding for
profitable milk production, the most
prejudiced dairyman would in time be-
come convinced of the value and sdvan-
tage of breeding pure lines of stock. In
the first place, he will have to carry on
his breeding 10 exactly the same manner
and with the same care that he would Ii
be was breeding pure. In getting new
cows to breed from, he will avoid buy
ing q scrub animal because he will have
discovered that the process of breeding
up the kind of producing animals which
be desires from her will be slower as her
blood lines are lower in quality. He
will practice the same sort of selection
in the matter of breeding the animals in
his own herd that he would II he was
breeding pure-breds. And all the while
he will be under the disadvantage OF
breeding grades only and having grades
to sell at grade prices.
Also, he will need to be as careful in
the matter of changing his bull, when
the use of one bull has been carried as
far as the principles Of judicious in
breeding make it safe, AZ he would IL he
was breeding purebreds. And above oil
things, he will not even for q moment
consider the change from bull OF one
breed to bull of another unless he is
prepared to enter upon an experiment
which may mean loss or long wait
for satisfactory results.
If he has been breeding Jerseys and
has been grading up his herd little bet
ter every year, using good bull owned
by a neighbor just north of bim, he
should not think for moment of chang
ing his plan and taking advantage of the
opportunity of using Holstein bull
owned by his neighbor to the south,
simply to avoid inbreeding. Better con-
tiuue the inbreeding little too far than
to run the risk of introducing the blood
of ano other breed into grade herd.
II, however, the dairyman is concerned
only in the improvement OF the milk
producing character Of the animals In
his own particular herd gradually as he
shall raise up heifers 10 take the places
of his old cows; If he does not care to
handle pure-bred herd or attend to the
details necessary to keep 1t registered as
pure, then the grading up method will
be found very satisfactory. 1t certainly
will give good results by the improve
ment of the producing quality In making
the herd more proftable.-Maine
Farmer.