66 The Bulletin. 



The manure dropped by a well-fed cow in one year contains nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid and potash worth $27. The average value of the North Carolina 

 cow is between $25 and $27. This is food for thought— a spur to action. 



But the growing of live stock in North Carolina or in any land does not 

 mean the rearing of razor-back hogs, saw-back cattle and imported mules 

 Some years ago, while attending a State fair, I was standing by a pen in which 

 were confined three very fine Berkshires. They were from the North. I ad- 

 mired the hogs greatly, for they were the largest I had then seen. A Georgia 

 farmer came up with his wife, and, after standing for some time, exclaimed to 

 his wife: "Golly! ain't he a buster? As long as a fence rail and as big as a 

 hogshead. He must be old enough to vote." The hog was not two years old. 

 That day four carloads of hog meat were unloaded in Atlanta, consigned to 

 three firms and distributed throughout the State. There may have been more 

 than four carloads. There was more in Georgia. Do Asheville, Greensboro, 

 Charlotte, Baleigh and Wilmington import meat? 



North Carolina is a great State and deserves to be greater. Does North 

 Carolina teach her sons the things the men of North Carolina should know? 

 Do the people of North Carolina realize that North Carolina is an agricultural 

 State? Does North Carolina grow her own meat, butter, corn and flour? Does 

 she spend hard-earned dollars for commercial fertilizers? How many gully- 

 scarred acres have blushed in their nakedness until Dame Nature, moved to 

 compassion, clothed them with broomsedge, briar and pine? Do the farms of 

 North Carolina maintain their complement of live stock? They do not, and, 

 until they do, the sins of our fathers will be visited upon us. 



MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY HERD. 



By John Michels, Professor of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, A. and M. College. 



One of the most important matters in the successful management of a dairy 

 herd is to be constantly improving the quality of the stock. This is best accom- 

 plished by the use of the best quality of pure-bred dairy sires. The importance 

 of the dairy sire is recognized in the expression, "The bull is half the herd." 

 Usually, however, the bull is more tha>i half the herd, either for good or bad. 

 In the case of common or grade cows, for example, the pure-bred sire may 

 count for three-fourths or more of the herd by reason of his greater pre- 

 potency. To so great an extent does the sire determine the improvement or 

 deterioration of the herd as to call for the utmost caution in his selection, 

 which should be based primarily upon the performance of his immediate ances- 

 tors. 



Whether the cows be grades or pure breds, it is of the highest importance in 

 building up a dairy herd to secure a pure-bred sire of outstanding dairy merit. 

 Unless the sire is descended from good milkers, it is folly to expect him to pro- 

 duce good milkers, no matter how fine or how ideal he may be as an individual. 

 It is, furthermore, of importance to remember that the herd cannot be success- 

 fully built up unless the sires that are successively used belong to the same 

 breed. If the grading-up is begun with a Jersey sire, the process must be con- 

 tinued uninterruptedly by the use of Jersey blood. 



Another matter of prime importance in the successful management of a dairy 

 herd is the keeping of a record of the milk and butter fat produced by the 

 individual cows of the herd. The keeping of a daily record of the weight of 

 the milk of each cow is a very simple and inexpensive task. All that is neces- 

 sary is to have a small scale and a ruled sheet of paper upon which to record 

 the weights of milk morning and night. The daily weighing of the milk from 

 each cow is valuable also in serving as a check upon the work of the milkers. 

 A rapid shrinking of the milk is usually detected on the milk sheet and may be 

 entirely due to careless milking. Great daily fluctuations in the yield of milk 



