The Sneedville news. (Sneedville, Tenn.) 191?-19??, 1921-07-15
GOOD BULLS ARE
HERD BUILDERS
COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION IS
BEST hEARa THRU WHICH TO
PROCURE EXCELLENT sIREs.
PROFITABLE TO DARYMEa
Wilson and Bedford Counties First In
State To Have Mutual Creamery aha
Better Male OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
CiySs Details.

~ - - AAttAAfht i<aAAAe AAA'ffAt-'s'@
Specialist, Division Of Agricultural
Extension, University Of Tennessee)
one OF the most I'M factors
In the Improvement OF The dairy cattle
or a county or a community is The
kind Of bulls used. Most farmers now
Nalize the value of using good slres.
but often the cost Of owning one for
a small herd Is SO high In proportion
20 TIE number of cows 10 he used that
he farmer feels that he can not invest
enough money TO secure hiGh-class
purcbred bun. II he has some neigl
bOrs Who also are Interested In build
ing up II good herd from The few cows
that they own, the most effective way
for all of them Is by cooperative own
erahip Of sire Of the best dairy quail
tiles. II there are as many as three
such communities in county or with
IN reasonable distance OF each other,
the best means TO an end Is the CO.
operative bull association.
IN such an association nm assessment
IL prorated among members in proper
tlOn 10 the number of cows each man
owns This cost rarely exceeds SO
per COW. The bulls are then bought
by the directors of the association, and
one animal Is placed Ia each block or
community, where he stays two years.
At the end of this time each is adj
vanced one block TO prevent in-breed-
ing. Number one goes to two, two ID
three, and so on until the highest Is
reached. and II progresses 10 number
one. Keeper of the bull In each block
usually is paid small fee which re-
inburses him for the upkeep of the
animal. This rarely exceeds 81 per
cow for each year.
In selecting bulls for cooperative
bull association, the prime considera-
ton Is, viii their daughters be better
producers than the dams of the daugh-
ters7 In other words. Will the calves
of which they are sires be better pro-
ducers than the mothersf
Thus they must not only be good
individuals, but they must b. from a
high-produclng family. One OF the
chief requirements is that the dams
OF such bulls must have a register OF
merit record OF not less than 800
pounds OF butter-fat In year as MAJ
ture COW. or n proportionate amount
if the record was made when the COW
WINS under five years of age. II IN also
desirable 10 have the bulls from COWS
that have n large number OF daughters
I'm the register Of merit, and TO have
" great percentage Of the ancestry for
at least four generations In the register
Of merit. With these requirements full
filled, how can the bulls be selected
keep from Improving the qualities IL
the future dairy cows of the com
munliy7
In practice the actual cost to own
such bulls comparatively IL but little,
n any, more than the combined cost
of the ordinary bulls replaced by them.
4 bull for the Association would cost
about $500. and would replace from
ftur 10 Ave ordinary purebrcds, or per-
haps grade bulls. worth on the beef
market about 500 each.
The cooperative bull association In
not an experiment. II has been sue
ccssrul I'm a number Of states for sew
erai years. Tennessee has (Septemher,
1910 two cooperative bun assocla-
tons -onc I'm Wilson and one In Bed
ford eounty--and several others in
process Of formation. Each Of these
counties has cooperative creamery
and a cooperative cow-tcsting asso-
citation They enjoy the distinction Of
being the frat In the South to have all
tire of these mutual organizations.
The Wilson county unit has eight
blocks, and is one of the largest In the
United States. An Of the eight excel
Lent slres owned by that organization
are related To "Sy~l's Gamboge."
$4,000 animal.
The cooperative bull association IL
a swo-edged sword. IL cuts high and
reaches the well-to-do-thOse who have
good bulls. but want better ones at the
Ieas, cost. II also reaches out TO the
little man. or the small dair. man, who
feels that he can not AFFORD 10 own "A
real good bull owing to excessive coSt.
4, affords him an opportunity 10 breed
h's cows To the very best dairy blood