The Mena weekly star., 1916-12-14
HOW ID BUILD UP
 AGOOD FARM HERD
Live Stock Is Farmers Opportunity, Says ]. N. Mcleod, of Esten-
 sion Division.

 to build up at least good small farm herd Whether this desire eliminates in the production of high grades for market purposes or develops into the breeding of pure breds for high qual- 4ty of trade. the method of procedure is practically the same.
 Sire Is Half the Herd.
 The first thing that the prospective breeders should firmly fix in his mind h that the "sire is half the herd" 1t does not matter how good the females are. unless the sire is a good indi- vidual. capable of stamping his char scteristics upon his offspring, prog rsss in the improvement cannot be ex- pected. Therefore, those expecting to Ru into the business of breeding hogs u,pr cattle should pay particular atten- ifion to the selection of the head of the herd. A sire, among other things, should have a strong constitution, that Is. ueep chest development. with a large heart girth. An animal without this will not usually stand the strain of the amount of breeding usually ex- .pected of him nor will he sire as TO- 1ust animals or as active grazers and good feeders as the sire which is strong in constitution. Other points that should command attention are good broad backs, strong loin, deep sides and we'll developed hindquarters.
 Watch For Characteristics of
 prepotency
 With this development there should be the characteristics of prepotency. that is the power of transmitting de desirable qualities to the offspring. This power is denoted by a well crest cd neck with a strong male appear ance in the head and good constitu- ton. Herda of hogs as we'll as cattle gre often ruined by failing to pay at- tention to these points. The practice eff breeding females that have the characteristics of males will have tendency to produce smaller animals that are not as good breeders as those that have been more wisely selected.
 If the sire is half the herd" it on fy stands to reason that the females constitute the other half Thus the selection of this part of the herd has an important bearing upon the sue. cess of the prospective breeder, The same things that have been pointed out in the selection of the male ap- plies to the female. with the exception that the female should show female characteristics just as strongly as the uL- oLn~ ns. fstics
 Select For Uniformity of Type.
 Uniformity of type in the females fs another thing that needs consioera- sion. The appearance of a herd in this respect always makes strong impression upon the prospective buyer whether the would-be bzyer is selecting feeder or breeding animals The man who has developed herd recognized for it's uniformity will have . greater demand for his stock at bet ter prices than the breeder who has not given the matter of uniformity 6ue consideration. The prospective breeder will find it fairly easy job to pick a uniform herd if he is going into the pure bred business, but where starting with Arkansas grades or scrubs he will find 1t a more difficult proposition to secure the type desired He should. however, endeavor to se- cure his females with as uniform type and color as possible.
 Eliminate Inferior Individuals In the
 Herd
 Another point upon which the sue cess or failure o. the prospective breeder depends is the elimination of inferior individuals in the herd Mis- takes in the livestock business have often been made by beginners in sell ing off the best female offspring of the herd. This mistake is naturally encouraged by the more attractive prices offered for the better animals, but 1t only stands to reason that if a practice is made of disposlng of the better females no improvement can be made. or at least it will be very slow, while on the other hand if a practice is made of selling of the poorest females in the herd and keep ing the best time will come when the breeders poorest animals will be much superior perhaps, to the best animals owned by neighbor breeder who has not followed systematic se- lection in his herd.
 Begin in the Livestock Business Ac- cerdins to Means and Experience
 The sanest and safest way for the inexperienced man with limited means to start in the livestock business Is 10 start on Q small scale, Some of the best livestock men in the country to- day are men who have begun the bus mess in small way.
 In 1888 certain farmer in Texas started in the pure-bred cattle bust ness with one COW and bull Today the registration books show that this same farmer has registered over 500 animals, descendants of this one COW. This mans success is attributed to the use of permanent pastures, good bulls, the best females and a thorough study and mastery of the live stock business thus utilizing the means at his command to the best advantage. Every farmer in Arkansas could do es we1 with the same effort
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