The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1922-04-13
VALUE OF PURE
BRED STOCK
Demonstrations Show That Breeding
Counts In Cattle or Poultry.
(From Kansas City Start

i. NEIOm AAHSAo lily SL3T)
Strictly speaking, there are few
farm animals left in the United States
that haze not had the benefit Of som,
Improvement in breeding, and on tn,
whole we have taken long steps to
ward the grading up of our farm
stock. But survey Of the situation
Will convince anyone that the average
grade Of American livestock is la.
mentally low. Only q fraction Of q
per cent Of our animals are purebred
and unfortunately in most cases only
a small per cent Of the sires used are
Of this class.
The United States department of
agriculture kept = record for a year
| OF the cattle sent to Chicago for
slaughter and found that only III per
| cent graded prime, 4 per cent choice,
~ per cent good, So per cent medium,
II per cent common and 3h per cent
Gamers. There were four times as
many Of the common and Gamer
classes as Of the choice and prime
classes, and more than half Of all
the cattle offered graded as medium.
Without question, part Of this de-
Hciency was due to the way in which
these animals were fed, but a greater
part was due to carelessness and neg
lect in breeding. OF the two deficien-
cies, the one due to careless breeding
is much more easily and cheaply re-
NEEDED than the one due to faulty
methods of feeding.
This is strikingly illustrated by the
repeated results of the marketing of |
cattle from the breeding demonstra-
tons at the Sni-a-Bar Farms, Grain |
Valley, Mo-, originated by w. R. Mel
son, founder of The Star, provision
for the maintenance of which for 80 |
years after his death was made by
Mr.. Nelson. Last Christmas first
and second cross steers from this de-
descended from common
lows and sired by purebred Short
norm bulls, brought $40 hundred, the
'op for the day, or $3.50 hundred
more and $27.37 head more than the
lext highest priced load on the mar
,et that day.
The low grade of our livestock is
urther apparent when we realize that
he production of the average COW
ept for dairy purposes is about 100
'ounds Of butter fat year By the
se of purebred dairy sires on scrub
ows at the Iowa State college, the
lrst cross heifers produced an aver
ge of 104 pounds more butter fat
year than their mothers, when both
'ere feG alike and given similar care.
The average hen lays only about
fly or sixty eggs a year, mostly in
easons when eggs are cheap. The
.ansas State Agricultural college
lore than doubled the production Of
mongrel flock in two generations by
lie use of highly bred cocks, The
entucky experiment station increas-
! the value Of lambs from scrub ewes
the first generation by $1.50 each
Y the use Of purebred rams.
1t costs little more to breed these
gh producing animals than those
low grade. 1t costs less to fit them
Iitably for market, and they always
ing more than those of careless
eeding. The narrower the margin
profit in producing farm animals
e more important it is that animals
ssessing superior qualities be bred
lie way out Of our present difficult
IS lies, in considerable part, in pro-
cling better animals and giving
EN- more intelligent care.