208 BOAKl) OK AUKICULTDUE. 



IJrtH'dcrs' (lazrltf m .vt-ai- <>r two a.uo ol' Hit- sale dI' Scdicli cattle. People 

 went tliciv to Imy hulls to ptit witli tlicir licids. This was ddiie with !l 

 view of In-iufjiuf; their herds up to the top noteh. rerlectiou was wliiU 

 we souulit. and what every breeder seeks. It matters not whether it Ik 

 in the i)reediiig of dairy eattle or l)eel' cattle, wi' all want perfection. I 

 think there is a pos.sihility of ii nian >;oiii.i; too far in his use of certain 

 lines of blood. While it may lie i)ossible to ;:o on and further develop 

 the herds, at the same time we must l)e very carefid in doinu lids or 

 we will }xo a step too far, or make some mistake in our breedinji' that will 

 cause the herds to retrograde instead of go on and develop. We should 

 study more than ever before the mating of our animals, and not cause 

 them to l>reed less valuably than they have been breedinu. It is a great 

 study and an interesting one. The (juestion with me has loug been a 

 study from the standpoint particularly of the condition in which the 

 herd should be kept for the best breeding purpcses. I believe that is 

 a (piestion Avith all of us. 1 think many of us go on and develop animals 

 for the show, but I think we often impair the l)reeding ai)ility of the 

 cattle Ave have in our herds by doing so. I think this is more frequently 

 the case with the females of the herd than with the males, providing 

 the male that is developed in this way is given sutticieiit exercise all the 

 time, I do not know that all of you feel as I do, but I know some of 

 yo\i do. Some of us feel that the breeding and nutting and selection of 

 our hei'ds is one of the most interesting matters that come to us. One 

 of the greatest pleasures I have is studying the breeding and lineage of 

 our herd, and determining what kind of mating should be made. 1 think 

 there is too much carelessness in the mating of our cattle. We feel that 

 it is all right if we have a good bull, one that has cost enough money 

 to assure us he is all right and is a good individual, and so we take 

 him and breed him to every cow on the farm. That is a mistake. We 

 may have a young bull on the farm that may be more advantageous to 

 breed to cows of some kinds than the regular hull. If Ave send our 

 coAvs to a bull that suits us and that Ave think Avill make the proper 

 niating Avith our coavs, it Avill be to the advantage of the entire herd. 

 Of course, we can not all keep four or five bulls, but it stands to reason 

 that if Ave have four or five types of coavs it is not advantageous to breed 

 them all to one bull. Of i-ecent years an improvement — considered so, at 

 least, by a great many Shorthorn breeders— is being made by the selec- 

 tion and careful mating of the animals in the herd. What can be done 

 in this line is illustrated in the development of the Polled Angus breed, 

 In other Avords. the developing of a breed Avithout horns. We all knoAV 

 about this, and it is not Avorth Avhile going into details, I simply call 

 your attention to it. This is brought about, how? By a careful study 

 of the selection and mating of the animals Avithout horns, or with A'ery 

 small horns. I am not here to advocate that Avhich a great many think 

 is not the best thing to do, but if Ave can do that, if we can breed these 



