1^ BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



turo sires has, according" to all oliservations and analog-ieal 

 reasoning', a bad eflect upon the system and functions ol' tlieir 

 progeny, We therefore have snnill cows, better calcuhited to eat 

 and drink than to g'ive milk, or to lay on liesh and fat. There is 

 no greater reason why any good animal should come of such sires, 

 tluvn that a vine should bear figs. This state of thing's will 

 continue as long- as our milk raisers persist in using scrub bulls. 



The use of thorough-bred sires for beef is pretty well appreciated, 

 and in the beef-raising districts Short Ilovns predominate, and the 

 great mass of beef which comes from the West bears marks of this 

 blooil to a greater or less extent. The advantage to dairy and 

 milk farmers is quite as real as to beef-raisers. The farmer who 

 buvs a thorouLih-bred bull, and before his heifer calves mature, 

 exchanges him with a neighbor for one of the same breed, and thus 

 every second year makes a change, breeding always from bulls not 

 less than three, and if possible four or five years old, will have the . 

 satisfaction of seeing great changes iu his herd and in the profits 

 of his dairy. No intelligent farmer should use a scrub or grade 

 bull if he can help it. The temptation to raise grade bull calves is 

 often too great to be resisted. They are very large and handsome, 

 they may have come of favorite cows, and the farmer feels sure 

 tliat if size and beauty are worth anything in a bull, he will do 

 well to raise such a one. The bull comes to maturity, handsomer 

 than his thorough-bred sire, perhaps ; nevertheless the probabilities 

 are, that the stock of his getting will be little if any better than 

 that of an out-and-out scrub. 



Prof. Verrill, in his "Lectures ou the Laws of Reproduction in 

 Cattle," draws some practical conclusions that are worthy the 

 attention of every one. Space and time will only allow me to 

 make a few brief extracts. After giving his reasons, he says : 

 '• Hence only healthy aiul vigorous females should be used for 

 breeding purposes, and they should be iu the prime of life — not 

 too young- or too old." " It is equally important that the male 

 should be perfectly healthy and sound, and free from all constitu- 

 tional and hereditary diseases or imperfections." "The excessive 

 use of the male for breeding purposes, is to be carefuUj' avoided." 

 In speaking of abortion in cows, which is a very common thing in 

 some portions of New York, he says : "Doubtless one of the 

 principal causes of this disease, is the employment of inferior 

 males, or those that have been so overtaxed by excess as to 

 weaken the reproductive organs." 



