state Dairy Association. 73 



true m a great many cases in the human family. Do not let a few 

 dollars prevent your buying the most desirable male you can buy. 

 When you stop to think of the project, figure up, from the size of 

 your dairy, how many heifers you will get from that animal, and 

 do not sell him until you have learned what he is worth to you. 

 As an illustration along that line, about two and one-half years 

 ago I bought a registered Holstein bull, and the man, from whom 

 I got him, had had him a little over two years and a half and had 

 not tested any of his heifer calves. I had not had him six months 

 until that man called me up and asked me if I were not ready to 

 sell that animal. Right away I was suspicious. I backed right 

 up in the harness and would not sell him at all. He had been test- 

 ing some of his two-year-old heifers and wanted to buy that animal 

 right back. He didn't use any policy at all about it; he almost fell 

 headlong trying to get him back. Now I prefer to buy a male of a 

 few years use so I can know his get. I would rather do that than 

 to buy a younger one where I cannot have an opportunity tc learn 

 what the latter's get is doing. 



I remember a few years ago I was up in Wisconsin to a dairy 

 convention. I made a statement something like this, that I cared 

 more for the butter record of the sire's dam than I did for the 

 cow's own dam. Ex-Governor Hoard jumped to his feet and said, 

 "It amounts to more." 



There is no part of the work that will pay as well as looking 

 after the individual cow and seeing that the cows are properly bred. 

 The testing must be followed up faithfully. Do not go through 

 your herd and test it once and then lie down and quit, because 

 there will be conditions changing and the cows may change, there 

 will be something happening most all the time, and you want to 

 know when they are at a point that they are not proving profitable. 

 You want to know what you must weed out every year. That is 

 the only way you can improve your standard. 



I guarantee any of you people, who will start out with that 

 kind of principles, that you will become facinated with the work. 

 When you have got one year's work done, you will want to follow 

 it up. It is one of the most facinating things on the farm, and 

 we are following.it up now, and I will tell you how we are con- 

 ducting it. 



A three-day sampling period — We make a three days com- 

 posite test (three consecutive days ) every month, making it with the 

 Babcock test and keeping the weight of the three days milk every 

 month. It is an exceedingly interesting duty, and especially f.o to 



