278 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



must remember that faults of internal organism and lack of constitution can 

 be transmitted as well as faulty external points and more difficult to eradicate; 

 therefore, be sure the animals you breed from are healthy and vigorous. 



Another point is to breed in tlie same line or continuously from the same 

 class of stock. After selecting for purposes of improvement the breed that 

 possesses in the greatest measure the qualities sought, continue with the same 

 breed. It will give uniformity and a stronger concentration of qualities. I 

 am aware that there is a belief quite prevalent that a crossing of breeds is 

 advisable, and it is not claimed that good cattle will be obtained, but that they 

 will be an improvement over the best breed used in the crossing, will be an 

 exception rather than the rule. We have had very few experiments in cross- 

 ing pure breeds that proved satisfactory, especially if the greater expense over 

 grading up from common stock is considered. 



But the most important point to be considered in the improvement of cattle 

 is feed and care. Efforts have been put forth here in Michigan sufficient to 

 raise all the cattle in the State to a very good standard provided they had 

 always been accompanied with good care and plenty of feed. A large propor- 

 tion of our common cattle have had good blood in them, but it has been 

 starved out, and the last state is worse than the first. If you are not going to 

 feed well, and will raise cattle, stick to the native ; they are the best for that 

 purpose. We have some very hardy, easy keeping breeds, but none are so 

 good for the farmer who keeps his cattle on starvation as the pure native, and 

 this is purely an American breed. A great many seem to think that the breed 

 is all that is necessary, and act on that principle ; others, and they are many, 

 though they are less than formerly, have said that "feed makes the breed. "^ 

 Both are wrong. A combination of breeding and feeding is what brings, 

 good results. 



This care must commence at the beginning and continue throughout. Suc- 

 cess will not follow starving a calf with the expectation of making it up in tbe 

 yearling. Starving the cows will not only reduce the quality and quantity of 

 milk, but they will not produce good calves. I liave said that we need cattle 

 to consume the forage and convert it into money. This they will do, if they, 

 at the same time, have a liberal allowance of grain, and that is the only 

 profitable way. It does not pay to keep a lot of young cattle six months in 

 winter merely for the purpose of passing a straw stack through them. It can 

 be fined more cheaply with a straw-cutter and horse-power, and besides there 

 is no money in the straw and none in the cattle ; but put with it some oil 

 meal, corn meal, and bran, and money can be made out of both straw and 

 stock. 



Very few, even the best, are liberal enough with their feed. We do not 

 like to see our cattle eat so much, but we should remember that cattle are 

 practically machines to change food into meat and milk, and the faster it can 

 be done the more profit there is in it. Good eaters are, as a rule, good 

 digesters, and make good returns for the food consumed. If a cow giving 

 milk is given all the food she can use she will repay it in milk, or if she does 

 not and gets fat, the sooner she becomes beef the better. If dairymen would 

 make tests with their cows individually, they could more readily ascertain 

 which were paying and which were not. Tests for the season are what decide 

 and not for a single week or month. 



Our agricultural fairs are not doing what they could to encourage the 

 improvement of cattle. They have no standards for judging, and often 

 indifferent judges decide the awards. A premium given for a fat animal 



