88 Thirty-Fifth Annual Report of the 



the get of the ideal sire, out of typical ordinary cows, of the 

 right sort will be found to produce the real thing. 



The dam of the hundred dollar cow I should select for 

 symmetry and general combination of desirable attributes rather 

 than for extreme capacity in the dairy without the typical con- 

 formation. It is to the bull I should look mainly for superlative 

 dairy excellence and for the source of that excellence in his 

 progeny, yet the cows should be of the same kind of utility, dif- 

 fering merely in degree. 



Cross breeding is uncertain business and is in the main 

 largely responsible for the large number of weedy cattle found 

 on^ the farms of New England. By cross breeding the inheri- 

 tance is weakened, and a tendency to atavism is introduced, 

 while by breeding like characters they become intensified. I should 

 not attempt to increase the flow of milk in a rich Jersey strain 

 by a Holstein cross, nor should I endeavor to improve the qual- 

 ity of Holstein milk by infusions of Jersey blood. Rather would 

 I by selecting within a breed and its grades, of like animals im- 

 prove them by mating with one like themselves in other respects. 



Judicious selection of females and particular attention to the 

 choice of the breeding bull will in the second generation produce 

 the making of some hundred dollar cows. I should not scruple 

 to breed a really meritorious sire to heifers of his own get. In- 

 deed I should prefer to do so rather than to an unrelated bull of 

 lower quality. Whether bred to their own sire or another male, 

 care should be taken to preserve the characters brought out with 

 so much pains and not change them with each change of bulls. 



The development of dairy heifers is important for it is by 

 development mainly that breeders have been able to improve 

 upon the ancestry of their animals. The high dairy quality of 

 certain breeds is explained in the cumulative development of these 

 breeds generation after generation for a long period of time. 

 This development must continue or retrogression sets in. 



A few developments in the young prospective hundred dol- 

 lar cow are to be noted. 



1. Let growth be rapid and unchecked during calfhood. 



2. During heiferhood let the stomach and digestive organs 

 be well distended with coarse fodders ; but without prejudice to 

 rrowth. 



& 



3. Breed after a good degree of development, but free 

 growth is finished and a fattening tendency appears ; 18 to 21 

 months. 



4. Feed the young cow well after her first calf. She not 

 only has to produce milk, but must also complete her growth. 



Finally a hundred dollar cow will look like thirtv cents un- 

 less she is properly fed. A profit cannot be made from a cow 



