BREEDING FOR T^ULK. 109 



hold true of breeds which have not been kept up to that 

 standard of excellence in some particulars which we want. 

 They may have beauty of form, excellence of exterior shape ; 

 but the milking qualities may be decidedly wanting, and we 

 feel compelled to use something else. Milk is what we all 

 want. What course, then, shall we pursue ? It is said, with great 

 truthfulness, that like produces like, as as a law. A farmer 

 may have a most excellent cow ; he may couple that cow with 

 a most excellent thorough-bred bull ; and the progeny of that 

 coupling may be an unfortunate one. There is no certainty 

 in regard to it. It may be a poor milker. What I want is 

 to have some course laid down whereby I shall feel a degree 

 of certainty that when I couple my cow with something else, 

 the progeny will be an exact reproduction of the cow. We 

 have not arrived at that state yet. My own theory about it is 

 this, which is perfectly in accordance with that of the lecturer 

 who has so ably presented the question, that we must select 

 such qualities in both animals as we want. If I have a cow 

 of superior quality, I must inquire into her ancestry, and find* 

 whether, through a number of generations, — three, four, six or 

 eight, — all these qualities have been nicely developed. If I 

 find it so, then I have on that side the material for reproduc- 

 tion. Then it is equally necessary on the other side. If I 

 find on the side of the male that for three, five or eight gener- 

 ations there has been a continued reproduction of the best 

 milking stock, I feel then that on both sides I have just the 

 elements combined together to give me good stock. I feel very 

 sure of it. The trouble is with us ; we are not careful enough 

 in looking in both these directions as far back as we should. 

 One of our neighbors, perhaps, has a thorough-bred bull. 

 His pedigree in the book may be all right, so far as the book 

 is concerned ; the animal is rightly booked ; his pedigree runs 

 back very well ; but so far as experience goes, he is a perfect 

 failure. Why? Because, unfortunately, speculation has 

 made rapid progress in this direction. A man who has 

 thorough-bred stock which has cost him high to begin with, 

 thinks he must make the best use he can of the material which 

 he has to fill his pockets again. Every calf, male or female, 

 from that stock, is raised. If some misfortune overtakes the 

 animal when it becomes a cow, it makes 'no difference. It 



