Norwich bulletin., 1918-03-20
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS

E
 the kind of sires these men were using to build up their herds. The cows in these profitable herds averaged ' 800 pounds of milk or more. Ilt some cases as much as ten and twelve thousand pounds was averaged.
 Since the time of the first con- structive breeding work. emphasis has been laid upon the very important fact that improvement in the pro- duction of our dairy cows has vital relation to the kind of sires being used. The value of such sires cannot be overlooked when the above figures are given consideration
 The question should be, Gan we afford to use any better sires.7 The influence that the sire may have is of such vital importance that the use of grades and scrubs is an expensive practice, which no dairyman can afford
 The stories of many prepotent sires are to be read in every issue of the dairy press. Practically ninety per cent. of the dairymen read such pub lications. yet it has been found that these evidences of the importance of the sire have not convinced all the dairymen.
 Without doubt, it is because they are not willing to invest more than | twenty five to seventy five dollars in l a calf that they plan to raise as the herd sire. This short sighted economy has meant more to small returns from 1 the dairy business than any other. No amount of wise feeding and manage ment will make profitable COW out lof a mediocre producer.
 Some dairymen figure about this: l ''If I can buy a calf for twenty five
 dollars, he increases his weight and
 beef value, and by the time he is grown, he will sell for enough more so that I will have gotten the service free.S In many cases, the animal sells for a price that leads one man out of !! three to think he is making money by so doing, or at least, he figures he {; is saving on the expenses of sire serv- ice On one hundred and seventy iafgat dairy farms in Connecticut thoss upon which the largest per cent of pure bred sires were used, produced milk for thirty per cent. less tota,
 cost than those where the largest mum
 How many dairymen could claim g profit if thirty per cent of their ex Ipenses were removed
 It is not sufficient to be content witf the fact that the sire is registered Were it not for the difference in pure
 bred sires, two- thirds of the dairy farmers in Connecticut would prob ably be making money at the busi'
 ness; as it is, probably less than one third are being well paid for theil
 time. The productiveness of the COW.
 in a herd is, to a marked degree de pendent upon their sires, They art
 not the panacea for all troubles tha cause loss in the dairy business, bu m dai1 f57o oioIl VI
 his condition if he depends upon grad or scrub sires to. assist him.
 Thirty per cent. Of the dairymen il Connecticut are using grade and scrul sires. Probably another third ar
 using inferior pure bred sires. Les than a month ago, a young man re fused to pay one hundred and lift,
 dollars for sire that has thirty grad daughters as much alike as peas, an those milking are all high producers , because an aged sire eats more an is more dangerous than young o2s This sire could have added fifty pc T cent to the production of his her because he has improved the pro duction of the herd with nearly sev |. enty- five per cent. higher productio than the cows he was to be mate I with in this owners herd
 The better the cows in a herd, tn more difficult it is to select sir that will add to the production of tn
 progeny. Were it possible to measur
 ] the ability of a sire by examining hin
 the trouble of the breeder would
 at an end. It is even more diffcu
 to select a prepotent sire, or sir that will transmit production, than
 is to select cows for production b
 standardization B. Musser, Cor necticut Agricultural College.