BREEDING DAIRY COWS. 373 



twenty pounds per week, and thirty (two-years old) average over twelve 

 pounds in a week. In another herd, five cows average over twenty- three pounds; 

 twelve cows average over twenty-one pounds, and twenty-nine (nine two- 

 years old) average seventeen pounds. Had I the data at hand I could give 

 similar records from other herds. 



In the advanced Registry for this breed, 349 cows are recorded, and about 

 half of them go in on butter test, the rule requiring fifteen pounds per week 

 for cows, thirteen pounds for four-years, eleven pounds for three-years and 

 nine pounds for two-years old. 



My purpose is not to recommend to you any particular breed. This impor- 

 tantsubjecb you must decide for yourselves, but, having decided, start with 

 the best of its kind, or, having started, go up higher. The summit is still 

 an unoccupied field. 



In selecting stock which has not been proven by actual tests, be not 

 deceived by a pedigree which is only a collection of unknown names, for 

 pedigree without performance is valueless. A reliable perfect pedigree 

 should be a continuous history of great performances by an unbroken line 

 of illustrious ancestors. 



Performance without pedigree is also of little value, as it furnishes no 

 evidence of prepotency. 



" The merits of a family should not be measured by the records of a single 

 individual, but by the combined or average product of a majority or the 

 whole." 



SHOET TESTS MISLEADING. 



Do not estimate the value of your cows by the result of a day, or a few 

 days' trial ; such tests convey a very inaccurate idea of actual worth. 



At Lakeside two cows commenced their year's records at about the same 

 time, were fed the same, milked and cared for by the same men; one gave 

 a few pounds more for a single day — about the same for a month — nearly as 

 much for six months, and yet at the close of the year the record of the cow 

 which gave the least for a day exceeded the other by over 9,000 pounds, an 

 amount which is equal to the yearly product of two of the average cows of 

 our State; yet had these cows been judged by a short trial the poorer would 

 have been declared the better. The actual value of a cow can only be known 

 by a year's trial. 



You will observe, gentlemen, that I have not made extreme comparisons, 

 have not pitted the inferior or common cow against the best. Had I chosen 

 extremes, I would have shown you that while many ordinary cows do not 

 average 3,000 pounds of milk in a year, a phenomenal one has given over 

 26,000 pounds in the same time, thus requiring over eight to equal one. 

 While the average of the cows of the great Empire State, if my memory is 

 correct, is only about 4,000 pounds per year, large herds, counting all the 

 mature cows, have averaged over four times that amount. 



I have confined my comparisons to No. 1 animals of the same breed and in 

 the same herd in order that all the conditions might be equal. 



By continuing our investigations into other fields we would find that the 

 influences of breeding are equally, or even more marked in other domestic 

 animals. 



You would find that a large share of the great trotting horses of America 

 have descended from one great fountain-head. You would find that the sue- 



