88 .^RICULTURE OF MAINE. 



thing that is practical, something that is going to be of value. 

 The bulk of it is based on my experience along that line. Take 

 the good cows that we have and mate them with a pure-bred 

 sire. Then we will have a herd, the foundation stock of which, 

 with the exception of the sire, is going to cost very little. 

 Breed them into a herd that in the course of ten years is 

 going to be as valuable as most herds of pure-bred animals, but 

 remember that we must have a type in mind. I do not care 

 whether it is Channel Island or Holstein cattle, or whether it is 

 something else, get the ideal in your mind and work toward that, 

 and do not bring in half a dozen dififerent kinds. 



Let me say in this connection that the man who starts out to 

 make butter with the beef cow is going to make a great mistake. 

 He will be like the calf that the boy was driving. He was driv- 

 ing a cow with a calf, and as he went along he met a herd of 

 steers going to market. The calf left the cow and started off 

 after the steers. The old cow mooed and bellowed, and the boy 

 called : "Co, Bossey," but it did not heed, so the boy tied the cow 

 to a tree and ran after the calf. By and by he got to the top 

 of the hill. He saw the steers, and the calf following. The boy 

 was out of breath, and he expressed himself as some of us per- 

 haps would. He said : "You fool calf, you darn fool calf, you 

 will be sorry when supper time comes." 



So I say that the man who starts to get milk and butter from 

 the beef cow will be sorry when supper time comes. 



The man who takes grade animals, or native cows, such as 

 he can get, and breeds them into a herd of producers, by the aid 

 of a pure-bred sire, that I will speak of, is entitled to more honor 

 and credit than the man who goes down into his pocket and gets 

 there that which never cost him any cfit'ort, and buys a pure- 

 bred herd, the result of some other man's brains. 



Now, let us see what type a dairy cow is. All these different 

 breeds have their scale of points, that vary a little with one 

 breed and the other. Yet if you look at them carefully you will 

 find that they all point to such a type of animal, a type of cow 

 that Vv'e find in Mary Marshal, and we find her in Belle of Scit- 

 uate and Pauline Paul, a little more pronounced than in this cow 

 perhaps. You find a cow that is wedge-shaped. First of all we 

 want in th:it cow constitution. We do not care what else she 

 has or has not, if she has no constitution, she is of very little 



