INSTITUTE PAPERS. _ 9 1 



will, that the bull should be of a feminine type. The great 

 value of a bull is his ability to reproduce himself. What do 

 you want him to produce? Why, dairy cows that are going to 

 be producers. Then it seems to me that he should be prominent 

 along the feminine lines. He does not need to be a fighter any 

 more, so you want rather the light horns than the heavy ones. 

 We want rather the slim neck, and the shoulders the same as in 

 the dairy cow. I like to see a 'good crest as an evidence that 

 he has power to reproduce himsdf. I think this is quite im- 

 portant in the bull, also that his eye is bright and clear. Then 

 the ribs should be wide apart, and the general contour of his hind 

 parts as you would like to see them in the good cow. 



We want to find underneath his abdomen, on either side, well 

 defined milk-veins, not quite as marked as in the dairy cow, but 

 they should be there, and at their end one orifice, at least; and 

 well placed, in front of the scrotum, there should be four teats. 

 They are very sure indications of the form of the udders his 

 heifers are going to have, both as to the position and the length 

 of teats. 



If there is a great amount of flexible skin under his belly, 

 just ahead of the scrotum, what does that mean? That corre- 

 sponds to the udder in the dairy cov/. Take this bull and put 

 him at the head of the herd, but don't use him for breeding pur- 

 poses until he is at least a year old. 



There are more failures from using immature animals than 

 from any other source that I know of. Above all things, do not 

 o-ive the bull excessive service. One service is better for a cow, 

 and more sure than the repeated services that are so often al- 

 lowed where the bull runs at liberty. 



Another mistake is in saving the calf from every cow. We 

 want to select our best dams (the same will apply equally well 

 to the pure-bred herds) and save the calves from those cows 

 only, and only those that come up to the standard of excellence. 

 We save everything, as a rule, and we save for superficial rather 

 than individual points on the calf itself. I never save the first 

 calf from the cow. I don't know what she will be, and I do 

 not think the first calf is as well developed. It is certainly small- 

 er. vSo the first calf of a heifer is always discarded, save those 

 that come up to the general line of excellence. If that is done 

 it will mean in a grade herd 50% of the calves can be saved. 



