Yerington times. [volume] (Yerington, Nev.) 1907-1932, 1914-01-17


part of the breeder, the tendency is to
at once begin degenerating, from the
superior to the normal and from the
normal to the inferior in the breed.
The dairyman should aim to take adj
vantage of this long established in
herent quality that has been intensified |
in one particular breed, and derive
the greatest benefit that he can from
it, in securing uniformity of appear
ance and enlarged production A
dairyman who has graded up his herd
until the animals have the appearance
of being pure breds stands a better
chance of disposing of his untried
heifers at good figure; and if in addi-
ton he can give the yearly production
of their dams showing that his herd
stands high as practical producers, his
market for surplus stock at good
price is assured.
When dairyman has secured
| foundation herd and desires to build
| up along the lines of greater individ-
ual production, the next important
step is the selection of sire to head
his herd; for on this selection of
bull, more than on any other one
thing. depends his success or failure
in the way of breeding up. To select
a grade bull to grade up herd is like
walking up a treadmill; you can walk
all day standing on the same spot 1t
a man has not uniform lot of cows
to start with and cannot afford to pur-
chase a herd which shows some uni
formity of dairy breeding, it is all the
stronger reason for refusing to use
grade bull; even though he may have
the appearance of being practically
pure bred he still has in his blood lines
the element of common blood that has
no dairy instinct or characteristics,
and t is congenial in the harmony
with the same common blood of gen
erations of purposeless breeding that
the cows in the herd possess in large
quantity, and if the cows are badly
mixed lot this scrub element in their
breeding is about the only element
they have that harmonizes in blood
lines with the grade bull that they
are to be mated to. AS a result one
might naturally expect that a majority
of the heifers from such mating would
show stronger resemblance to their
ancestors of the range than to the
dairy breed of which their sire is
grade.
In selecting a sire the dairyman
should choose a registered bull of the
dairy breed for which he has prefer
ence. He should accept nothing but
a registered animal for the reason
that in so doing he has the assurance
of securing a thoroughbred. A reput-
able breeder who breeds pure-bred
cattle, and who is aiming at the bet
terment of his breed, does not send
out desirable calves unregistered. If
a bull is not valuable enough in the
eyes of his breeder to warrant his
! being registered, he is not fit to head
progressive dairyman's herd. The
fact that bull is registered is not a
| guarantee that he is valuable dairy
sire. 1t is a guarantee that he has
nothing other than dairy breeding in
his blood lines. But the fact that a
bull has not been registered is evil
dence that he is not valuable dairy
sire As we'll as being registered,
bull should be from COW that has an
official record showing her to be
good yearly producer, and if possible
dairyman should secure bull whose
granddams on both sides have good
yearly records, or whose dams sisters
have good yearly records; for it might
chance that the dam of the bull, while
having a good yearly record, might
be the only one of her family that is
an extra performer. The more prov
en- performers bull has close up in
his pedigree the more likely he is to
prove valuable as a sire. For like be-
gets like os the likeness of some an
cestor A bull should have the char
acterstic appearance of his breed 1t
is not necessary that he should pos
sess nigh show ring qualities A
hashy show bull is not necessarily
great dairy sire. But | would never
select bull from COW that had a
very deficient udder, nor from COW
with short teats 1t is very important
that the bull have vigor and constitu
ton. A bull lacking in vigorous APP
pearance is never likely to possess the
strong individuality that will enable
him to impress on his offspring the
dairy qualities of his ancestors.
Up to comparatively recent date
there has been very little official year
ly testing, but this work has now been