90 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. r>oc. 



this is not really the case. Good bulls of any of the imported breeds 

 may be bought as calves for low prices and may be shipped in crates, 

 by express, at comparatively small cost. But even if a high price 

 is paid for a good bull that is mature and that has shown his worth 

 for breeding, the increased cost will soon be returned in the extra 

 value of each of his progeny. By co-operation of several farmers 

 in a neighborhood, a bull may be purchased for the use of several 

 herds. Members of farmers' clubs have found it profitable to join 

 in the purchase of a good bull or a good stallion. 



In many parts of Pennsylvania, nondescript animals are raised of 

 no definite breeding which can be classed fairly as ''scrubs." To 

 properly mature such an animal costs almost as much as to prop- 

 erly mature a highly bred animal, which, on maturity, will sell 

 from 25 to 50 per cent, more than its plebian competitor. There 

 is no room in the animal husbandry system of this State for animals 

 that are not bred and designed for high utility in some definite di- 

 rection. There is an improved breed that is adapted to the condi- 

 tions and possibilities of every section of the State. If the condi- 

 tions of life are too rugged for the large breeds, and if the condi- 

 tions in respect to the market for milk are not good enough to 

 justify keeping the Channel Island cattle, such breeds as the Devon 

 or Aryshire may do well and worlc great improvement in the exist- 

 ing cattle population. The seed for improvement is near at hand, 

 because there are in this State many of the best herds of cattle 

 to be found anywhere. It is to be hoped that the need for improve- 

 ment will become so manifest that our own progressive breeders 

 will have a better home market for herd improvers. This subject 

 is one that deserves the serious attention of farmers' institutes and 

 local agricultural organizations of all kinds. There are, approxi- 

 mately, 1,000,000 milch cows in Pennsylvania and about 2,000,000 

 cattle of all kinds. By improved breeding the average value of each 

 of these animals could readily be increased $5, and this would mean 

 an addition of |10,000,000 to the resources of the State. 



The work of. the laboratory of the State Live Stock Sanitary Board 

 has always been an important part of the activity of the Board. 

 The laboratory continues to occupy the rooms provided for it free 

 of charge in the Pepper Clinical Laboratory of the University of 

 Pennsylvania. It is gratifying to be able to state that authoritative 

 worlc has been done by this laboratory in many directions, and that 

 it is now one of the most productive laboratories of the kind in this 

 country. All of the tuberculin, mallein and anthrax vaccine used 

 for the Live Stock Sanitary Board have been made in this laboratory, 

 and the total value of these products that have been made and used 

 in the State more than equals the total cost of the running expenses 

 of the laboratory. The advantage derived from the laboratory in 



