Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1913-03-07


NgaSSS%egg the farmer will like and in
winch he will take the greatest interest
and pride, the most important question
for him to decide is on the breed and
blood. A certain quantity of feed and
care and shelter, put into a Jersey
steer, for example, to bring him on to
a three year old, will not yield in cash,
even the small fraction of the return
for the labor and capital expended, as
will the same outlay on a Hereford
steer. The opposite would be true
of the Hereford COW, and the JERSEY
milch COW. But even within the limits
of any given breed and purpose, blood
will tell and is worth paying for.
Farmers, all too generally, have in mind
an average price which an average an
imal is worth ana will give only a little
more for the best breeding stock which
they can buy. 1t is like the school di-
rectors who will pay certain price
license to teach school and will give
only five dollars month more for the
best For the foundation stock of any
kind, one can afford to pay double,
treble, quadruple, what he would pay
for the average or under. | do not
forget that there is much along pedi-
greed, high priced stuff, which nei-
Their in constitution, conformation, nor
performance, deserves the high prices
asked and paid. | do not forget that
by skillful advertising, by insinuating
agents, by covering the frame with un-
necessary fat, by amounting with oil
and bedecking with ribbons and by
worse practices still, breeding animals
are often forced onto men and COM
munities at great loss | do not forget
that the breeding of pure bred regis
tered livestock for the market is haz-
ardOus and often a disastrous enter
prise. | do not forget that there are
numerous hybrids or grades in horses,
cattle, sheep and swine, which look
good" and are good for the immedi-
ate purpose But for breeding pur-
poses they are bad, desperately bad,
for scientific reasons which | cannot
detail. Indiscriminate mixing of all
kinds of blood brings a race of mon
grels from which you cannot escape.
Blood will tell. " Therefore be care
full at the onset to have good and uni
form blood One side or the other
should be pure breed-and that of.
course means the sire. 1t is very un-
wise for multitude of farmers to rush
into the breeding of registered animals
for sale for breeding purposes Better
buy at long price-it will be vastly
cheaper. But breed to pure bred sires
whether cattle, horses, sheep or
swine. The sire and the dam should
be well mated. They must not only be
of the same breed, but of the same type
Of the breed. The man who thinks he
can mate the Jersey and Holstein and
get the richness of the Jersey and the
great quantity of the Holstein gets the
small quantity of the Jersey and the
low butter fat Of the Holstein. lie
ought not be surprised Or, he mates
the cayuse with the Clyde, thinking he
will get the size and disposition of the
Clyde and the nimbleness and toughness
OF the cayuse. But he gets the hind
end of the Clyde and the cigar-shaped
front of the cayuse. 1t sticks deep IN
some farmers minds that a cross is es-
sentially good. 1t is not. Some
crosses are good A Poland China
dam and a Berkshire sire often give
a splendid first generation. But you
should never let it go further. But,
| say again, within the limit of given
breed, and even a given strain, mate
well for conformation, constitution and
uniformity. Prune the herd hard. But
when you once have the requisite num-
Der of good dams and the proper sire,
hold onto them and to selected de-
L IaWrn