THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DAIRY BREEDS. 27 



It means that the animal has been developed along those points 

 where the greatest amount of strain comes upon her in milk 

 production. The rear quarters are necessarily heavier, fuller 

 and broader than the lorequarters in order that she may be able 

 to produce her offspring freely, and in order to allow for the 

 development of the udder. If the rear quarters are narrowed 

 down so that the rear legs come close together, you cannot get 

 a large, full udder development. The fore quarter should be 

 slender, so that as you look at the animal from the rear you get a 

 tapering condition, broad behind and tapering somewhat towards 

 a point at the front. This is a result of the special development 

 of the milking qualities. The cow turns her food in the direc- 

 tion of the greatest amount of strain upon the system, which in 

 the true dairy type is in milk production. You will thus see that 

 after vou have chosen the breed that you mav want for dairv 

 purposes, it is wise for you to study the type within the breed, 

 and to select and use the type that will yield the largest amount 

 of profit for a given amount of food, so as to keep the expense 

 of production within the limits of profit. 



QuES. Is one safe in breeding from grades if he wishes to 

 improve his herd ? 



Axs. He is not always sure of getting something better than 

 he started with, but the superior degree of excellence of the male 

 will increase the safety of the operation. If the male is far 

 superior in his good qualities to the native or the grade females, 

 you are likely to be reasonably safe, but it frequently happens 

 that the native and grade females have a good deal of prepo- 

 tency, and unless the male is an especially excellent one there is 

 danger that the qualities of the female will predominate in the 

 offspring. A great many people get the idea that in the breeding 

 of grades any thoroughbred male will do. We frequently find 

 that grade females are pretty powerful in the transmission of 

 their own qualities, and a male should be used that is powerful 

 enough to impress his qualities over those of the grades. In 

 breeding grade stock the breeder should be as careful in the 

 selection of his thoroughbred male as in breeding thoroughbreds. 



QuES. If you had a herd of grade Holsteins of the dairy type, 

 would it be advisable to use upon them a pure bred sire of the 

 Jersey or the Guernsey breed ? 



