Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1916-07-26
COOPERATION CUTS
EXPENSE OF S|RES
United Stock Breeders Associa-
ton of Esmond Is Leader
of Its Kind
NO SCRUB BULLS
CAN BE FOUND

The expense problem incident to
the keeping Of pure-bred bulls by
farmers with only ten or twelve cows
has been solved b the United States
Breeders Association of Esmond,
North Dakota, by the cooperative pur-
chase of sires and the transferring Of
them every two years
Formed in February, 1912, the or
gani2atiOn now has an active member
ship of 80 and covers territory of
twenty square miles. 1t has twenty
bulls all pure-bred Milking Short
horns, in service. They the kept at
farms convenient to the herds in
which the sire is used. The member
shipt fee of $40 carries with it an eX-
change of sires every two years.
"The United Stock Breeders Asso-
ciati3n of Esmond, North Dakota, is
the butgrowth of several meetings,
says Matthew Duffy, secretary, held
for the purpose of doing something to
imprbVe our cattle. ....
"Oilr first meeting was called in
January, 1912, and we were organic
ed by the last Of February, 1912. A
constitution and bylaws were per-
fected. Membership fee was made
twenty dollars. Then we had to
send1 a man away to buy sires. This
was sperhaps the hardest problem
But It was finally left to the board OF
directors and they decided upon one
of our members, and no one has ever
BEEN disappointed in his judgment.
"Our organization now covers a ter
ritorB of about twenty square miles,
with membership of one hundred
and thirty-one.
1--WE have twenty registered bulls
of the milking shorthorn strain, most
ly from the May & Otis herd of Gran
Vile Center, Pa, and those which did
not come from there directly are de-
scendants from their herd.
zone of the chief advantages of an
association of this kind is that the
scrub sires of the entire community
are done away with. No one who has
several crosses of pure-bred sire
will allow mOrgel sire to run at
large in his community. While we
are improving our cattle through this
cooperative association, we are also
learning to cooperate in various ways
for the benefit of our community. IN
all this large territory where we are
organized there is not scrub sire or
amy kind being used.
1--WE have just completed COW cen
sls of the association and find we
have 1900 females of breeding age,
of which 50 are pure-bred and regis
tered Shorthorns. Most of the others
have two crosses of ShOrt-horn. ,...
"Four years ago there were only
two pure-bred bulls and six pure-bred
cows in all this territory, and hardly
any pure-bred hogs. Now we have
over $50 pure-bred registered sows,
and every member uses pure-bred
boar. This illustrates what a little
co-operation will do in this commun-
ity.
"Another great advantage is the op-
portunity it gives to sell breeding
stock. The only reason we are not
shipping in carload lots is that we
have not that many to spare yet. And
one wanting carload of high grades
or pure-breds will surely go to place
where they are bred in large numbers,
as it gives him good chance for
selection.
"Still another advantage is, the d.
rectcrs are scattered over a large dist
riot, and this tends to eliminate neigh
borhood quarrels, which is one reason
why so many smaller associations
fail.
"This is not rich mans corpora
ton, but rather a poor mans co-opera-
ton. There would be no need TOR
such organization if every farmer
could afford to buy high-class bull
and replace him every two years.
"In this association we move the
bulls every two years, and the mem
bers, for the initial cost of $4,000
would each receive the service OF
seventeen bulls for thir;y-four years,
if the animals lived SO long. But it