100 The Bulletin. 



by our agricultural colleges or experiment stations, wholly disinterested par- 

 ties, makes them official and above any question of doubt as to reliability. 

 Nothing less than a year is believed to give an accurate idea of the real mel'it 

 of a dairy animal so far as actual knowledge and value is concerned. 



We used to hear a great deal about individuality, pedigree, type, etc., and 

 we do still; but these terms in the Guernsey breeder's mind have had to 

 measure up to utility as the cardinal principle and standard to which all must 

 conform. Utility is a word that describes quality, which all can recognize. 

 Individuality and type are more elusive and difhcult to define to the satisfac- 

 tion of all. They are likely to vary with persons having different ideals ; 

 furthermore, they are external qualities, and do not appeal to the farmer, 

 who deiiends upon what the cow yields. The impression made in the pail 

 and on his cream check, rather than the lens of a camera or his eye, ajipeals 

 to him. To him, a cow is a cow, if she gives a maximum amount of milk 

 from a given quantity of feed, and your talk about individuality and type, 

 important as they may be, goes in one ear and out the other. Pedigree we 

 understand, or think we do, and often talk quite wisely about it as we point 

 to some of the animals in our herds. The pedigree of an animal is the history 

 of its i)arents. Every scrub bull you ever saw has a petligree. only you 

 have not traced it out as carefully as you have that of your bull with the long, 

 unpronounceable name. The scrub bull has parentage and a history ; but 

 because not known, or undesirable, he goes in the scrub class and no chart is 

 made of his ancestors. There are bi'eeders who value their animals because 

 they have a chart of their ancestors, rather than from their merit. You can 

 buy one of these charts for .$1. There are many scrub pedigreed bulls, ani- 

 mals whose ancestors have been charted, and yet they ought to be entered 

 in the scrub class. The simple possession of a name and registry number 

 permits them to do untold harm to the breed they come from. 



How is the buyer to know whetlier he is getting a pedigreed scrub to head 

 his herd or notV It is at this point that the Advanced Kegister comes in to 

 help him out in the selection of stock. The true value of a cow can only be 

 determined by her record fts a producer at the pail, and by her offspring ; the 

 bull by what his sons and daughters are doing. 



The real demand of the practical dairyman is for cows that can show a 

 balance on the right side of the sheet at the end of the year. An apparent profit 

 during seven days, three or even six months, and eating it all up the next six 

 months, does not meet the requirements of the far-sighted dairyman. His 

 cows must, furthermore, be in perfect condition for continuing their yield 

 at the pail for years to come, and then, most important of all, she must be a 

 regular breeder, and possess the power of transmitting these qualities to her 

 offspring. Her sons must l>e prepotent sires and her daughters equal or excel 

 her at the pail. The ability to perpetuate these strong qualities must be 

 dominant, or she fails as the ideal dairy animal. The standard of the breed 

 should be raisetl through her offspring. 



Buyers in the past have looked to the show ring for improving their herds. 

 Individuality rather than productivity was the accepted standard. The 

 prize winners did not always prove to be the best producers or regular 

 breeders, and a better method of determining the true merits of a cow was 

 demande<l. one that was applicable for all, regardless of location, and could 

 be worked out right on the farm. 



The discriminating purchaser of to-day, when buying Guernsey cows, asks 

 pointedly. "Is she in the Advanced Register? What has she done? What 

 record has the dam of this bull or heifer that you are offering me?" The 

 breeder who wishetl a youngster to grow up and head his herd is not satisfied 

 if his spots are well placed and he is pleasing to the eye. Individuality is 

 important, but he wishes to take no chances in the future, and asks, "What 

 is his mother's record?" and "Is his sire in the A. R.?" All this is simply 

 good business and applying scientific methods in breeding. 



If the breeder's axiom, that "like produces like," is true, we may reasonably 

 expect that the son of a high producing cow should transmit this quality to 

 his daughters. Do breeders f/rncrallji believe this is true? The most con- 

 clusive answer that can be given is the rapid growth of interest in A. R. 

 work ; the determination to know just what each cow is doing, which are 

 the best, and then breed from them. 



