Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1920-05-18
BETTER SIRES MEAN
DOLLARS AND CENTS



do farmers of the county who was
talking. Look at those steers over
yonder. No purebred sires among
their ancestors so far as | know. But
they are good enough for me. | tell !
you, BascOm,' he said earnestly, com
ing over TO the fence beyond which |
the county agent sat in his flivver.
"Ill admit we've got lot of help in
a scientific way from the information |
you've brought us, but on this stock |
proposition it's different. believe in |
good stock, of course, and take rea
sonable pride in my animals, but what !
is the use Of overriding it? We better
move along the way we have been for
the past 20 years, | say. Sometimes
we get some poor animals, of course,
but the creatures on my place suit ME
pretty well. My father, on the old
farm back East, never worried about
purebred sires and he made fair
living. What was good enough for
father is good enough for me-"
Hold on a minute" said the county
over to the fence. You've always
listened to what l have had to say
! in the past and / want you to listen
to me now, for the simple reason that
it means dollars and cents TO you. It's
nothing in my pocket, but it will mean
more profits for you when you sell
your livestock products
: Now here is the dope, as the boys
say: United States Department or
Agriculture men, other animal hus-
bandry specialists, poultry specialists,
and all the rest have figured this thing
out on a broad basis. There are no
two ways about it. Better sires mean
better stock; and that means better
profts!"
Boy Converts His Father.
For an hour Bascom, the county
agent, and Sam, the farmer, talked
over the better-sires campaign, the
county agent skillfully citing exam
, pies from his own personal knowledge
, and from reports he had read. He
told. for instance, of a New York
: boy who was infiunced to buy high
I grade COW for $155, quiet to the dis.
/ gust of his practical" father who
O owned five cows which he claimed
and truthfully, were "as good as the
. average in the neighborhood," On
freshening, the boys COW gave "a
n quarts of milk, and kept it up for a
h long period, while none of the fathers
j, cows was able to make any such
record. Finally the father saw the
point and confessed that it was a
deal more profitable to expend his
G labor and feed on well-bred animals
. then on his so-called average COW.
;, The incident set the county agent S
friend to thinking, and the former
lost no opportunity to press his point
l. home.
e "Sam." he went on, you don't
n begin to realize what this thing will
; mean on your place. Right breeding
counts every time. The United States
Department of Agriculture tells OF
J. an Oklahoma farmer who owned two
registered Shorthorn yearling bulls
that he priced highly for breeding
= purposes. A butcher saw those bulls
and on asking the price learned that
= they were registered and that it would
: take 5000 to buy the two. What
e did he do but pay the 5000, and when
t he killed them he said they were
the cheapest cattle he had bought
for a long time, because they cut the
. better kinds of beef, and more of it.
. My private opinion is it was too bad
to deprive the community of the use
of those purebreds, even though the
: butcher was willing to pay the price.
d But this is the big point; Breeding
e counted in dollars and cents in that
d case and it does every time"
II Hogs Pay Despite High Price.
v Turning from the subject of cattle
h to hogs. the county agent told of
n what North Carolina boys had been
+ doing. Even though hogs had been
d so high" he said hundreds Of boys
q bouht pure-bred pigs with the expecta-
d ton Of selling their offspring. Those
g lads were not disappointed. Through
their county agents, the pigs were
sold at splendid prices and more than
g one of their dads was converted by
# the experience to the use of purebred
# sires."
II "See here" said the county agent,
pulling two photographs from his
pocket. "these were taken down in
d Mississippi. This one here"-indicat-
n ing one Of the shows
n typical Piney Woods rooter. You
I. know this kind of razorback Sam.
y Now look at this picture" handing
d the second photograph "Here is
y what two generations OF breeding with
s purebred sires brought There's some