DAIRY me;e;ting. 125 



Climate, the food he is prepared to furnish, the kind of a barn 

 he is going to keep them in, the market he has for his milk, his 

 own personal taste, and many other reasons may enter into the 

 problem. But I say, consider all of the facts and then decide 

 which dairy breed you like the best. This decision may mean 

 more than you think, so do not hurry about it, but as soon as 

 you can, decide. When you have made your decision, purchase 

 as promptly as possible a pure bred registered pair or trio, and 

 with these lay the foundation of a pure bred herd for yourself. 

 If you cannot afford to take so long a step at first, purchase a 

 registered sire and with this sire grade up your herd as well as 

 you can. Be sure to get a calf from a cow with a good record 

 of production. Remember that the sire you use is one-half of 

 your herd ; and it is the poorest possible economy to own or use 

 anything but the best that you can find. 



Personally, I would welcome the enactment of a law making 

 it a penalty for any farmer in Maine to keep or use a " scrub " 

 bull. It is not economy, but a crime to use a sire that will sow 

 seeds of degradation from which a herd can not recover in many 

 generations. 



Understand, I am not pleading for the use of any particular 

 breed ; but I simply insist that no sire should be used that is not 

 pure bred. Then be sure to get the very best you can find of 

 the breed you have chosen. 



The next step in grading up a herd is to be sure not to 

 in-breed. Some may try to justify this procedure, but the 

 smaller size and weakened constitution of many of our cattle 

 positively forbid anything of the sort. 



When you have heifers old enough to breed, purchase for 

 them another sire. Get the very best you can in the breed you 

 have begun with. Don't let anybody persuade you to change, 

 unless you sell your herd and begin all over again. Stick to 

 your ideal, and make every year show a decided improvement 

 in your herd. 



The first year will give you half blood calves, the next genera- 

 tion will be three-quarters, and when the third, fourth or fifth 

 grade has been reached, it will be difficult to tell them from pure 

 breds. Of course they can never be registered, but for all pur- 

 poses outside of breeding, they may show splendid results, and 

 prove themselves to be of great profit to their owner. 



