The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1919-09-12

Prepared by the United States Depart
ment Of Agriculture.)
The scrub sire has done more than
drought or food, more than insect
pest, more than rodent and beast of
prey, to reduce the agricultural wealth
Of the United States. to cut down the
money return of the individual farm
err from his operations
But the day OF the scrub sire is
drawing TO its dusk.
Preached against for generations,
he Is now to be actively crusaded
against In every state. in every coun~
ty, In every community of the United
| States.
| 1t is the first attempt ever made in
any large country to improve stimuli
taneously all classes of farm animals
by the use Of pure-bred sires of good
quality.
1t is a movement that affects every
man, woman and child in the United
States because it means more food
and better quality of food. Every
body takes a profit-the farmer and
stock raiser because he gets more
pounds of hog or COW or chicken out
of the same quantity of grass ana
feed, the consumer because there are
more pounds of a good meat on the
market than under scrub sire condl-
tons.
1t Is crusade in which practically
anyone may join as an active partici-
pant. To be officially enrolled, one
must be a live stock Owner-but not
on large scale. The owning of one
animal of breeding age is sufficient.
II male, it must be pure-bred. If
female, it need not be pure-bred but
must be bred to good pure-brcd
male. Therefore, the person who
owns just one mongrel hen mated
with quality cock representing
definite breed is entitled to official
enrolment as crusader for Better
Sires-Better Stock"
Opening Of Drive October I.
The crusade Is to begin on the first
day of October this year. A great
many organizations, led by the United
cooperate In it. Prominent among
the cooperating organizations are the
state agricultural colleges and many
associations Of live stock growers
and breeders.
The department Of agriculture,
though its cooperative state agencies,
will supply livestock raisers with
printed information, telling in popular
language of the best Misunderstanding
methods and the advantages of using
them. An official emblem, suitable for
display, will be furnished to every
farmer who agrees to use only good,
pure-bred sires and to cooperate in
other ways in the better livestock
crusade. 1t is required that he fill out
a simple blank showing the number
and kinds Of live stock he possesses.
and that he declare that his male
breeding animals are pure-bred. 1t
is not necessary that he own the
males. but merely that the sires he
uses, by whomsOever owned, be pure
bred.
The great majority Of people, per-
haps, have never appreciated the eff
feet of the grading up of the live
stock by the use Of pure-bred sires.
Very marked improvement is to be
noted in the first generation. With
some breeds the offspring Of a pure
bred sire and mongrel dams are, in
practical appearance, like pure-bred
animals. A Hereford bull practically
never fails to stamp his progeny with
the characteristic white face Of the
breed. Chickens from standard
bred barred Plymouth Rock cock and
any kind Of mongrel hens are nearly
all Plymouth Rocks in appearance,
and usually when mature they are at
least two pounds heavier than mon
grel individuals.
Weight Can BE Increased.
The external improvement is, per
haps, not so marked in any other
breeds In the first generation. but the
intrinsic improvement is doubtless
just as great. The improvement in
the two breeds cited, however, is not
merely in appearance. The depart
ment Of agriculture proves that by the
case of an S0O-pound part Jersey COW
bred to Hereford bull. The calf, at
little over two years old weighed
1850 pounds-more than twice rs
much as the COW. With practically
any breed Of horses, cattle, swine,
sheep, goats, or poultry, scrub herd
headed by pnre-bred sires for three
generations will show most of the in
dividuals closely resembling pure-bred
animals and. for food-producton pur-
poses, practically as useful
For many years this country has
contained many thousands of the fin-
est specimens of live stock In the
world. but in spite of that fact, the
quality and productive capacity of the
average farm herd has remained low,
because the farmers have not avaled
themselves of the pure-bred sires but
have used scrub sires. When the
forthcoming crusade begins to produce
maximum results-a few years from