Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-12-07
County Agt. Gibson Tells
About Pure Bred Sires
CONTINUED from front page.)


most indicative of prepotency the
characteristics of masculinity.
The dairy farmer who is truly pro-
gressive is not alone concerned in sell
Getting a sire which will increase the
production Of his herd but he also
hopes to obtain bull which will pro-
duce uniformly excellent individuals.
Having selected an animal which indi-
Gates by his masculinity his ability to
stamp his own or his ancestors char
acteristics upon the herd, the next i'm
p0rtant consideration is individuality
Time forbids our going minutely into
all of the minor essentials of the show
ring standard but those most import
ant should be mentioned.
We expect great depth from the top
Of the shoulder to the floor of the
chest, we'll sprung ribs turnout, Civ
ing great heart and lung capacity
Plenty Of room in the middle assures
a proper function of the digestive sys-
tenn as well as digestive capacity. A
straight top-line is essential to the
proper appearance of an individual and
a herd and should be insisted upon
Finally, soft pliable, elastic hide
covered with hair that is silky and
fine denotes digestive apparatus
that is strong and has the power Of
utilizing efficiently and readily the
food the animal can consume.
The last and least important point
to be considered in selecting sire is
his cost. The, selling price of an ami
nal never indicates his worth, it mere
ly shows what someone is willing to
pay for him, yet many dairymen-
some of them prominent breeders con-
slider little else. Any number of things
combined may determine the value
which an owner places on any indivi-
dual, but after that is done he must
find a buyer who places relatively the
same values upon the same character
istics.
A good sire is a cheap sire no mat
ter what the price, and a cheap sire
is usually worth many times less than
he cost. You perhaps recall the pro-
ceedings of the meeting held by the
various dairy breed Representatives at
Washington D. G. last summer The
discussions which took place relative
to increasing the productive standards
for pure-bred cattle was both interest
ing and suggestive. Some of the prom
inent breeders of America offered to
affiliate themselves in an agreement
stipulating that all male calves born
from dams which failed or were not
capable of making 400 lbs. of butter
in a year should be vealed. 1t is not
unreasonable to believe that the time
is not far away when some definite
action of this kind will be taken by
all pure-bred breeders. 1t may mean
a slight increase in the selling price of
the pure-bred sires which are spared
but it certainly should mark one of
the greatest steps in dairy production
yet made Before leaving the subject
of bull values let me mention one
more practice which is difficult to
account for. The dairymen with relat-
lively fair producing herds would con
slider it a joke if one were to offer
them from $4,000 to $100 for almost
any individual in their herds-and yet
when they go out to purchase herd
sire, the vast majority of them balk
on the down-hill side of the price of
one of their cows.
To recapitulate, in selecting dairy
sire we will look first to the breed.
That settled upon, we should if pos
sible avail ourselves of some tried and
proven sire. Failing this, selection
should be made of a sire whose an
cestors possessed proven dairy capaC
ity, who possesses masculinity and in
dividuality to marked degree,
always bearing in mind tia the best
will prove none too good and that
even with the exercise of the most
careful judgement failure will occas-
sionally occur. However the follow
ing of this practice over a given per-
iod of years has proven to be the one
shortcut to increased dairy produc-
ton.