STATE DAIRY ASSOCIATION. 347" 



of them reg-istered that you have no business with, and that ought not 

 to be registered. Get the pedigree of the bull you contemplate buying, 

 find out what his sire was and the dam of his sire, and be still more par- 

 ticular to find out just what kind of a cow his own dam is. Go slow on 

 this subject and buy the very best dairy-bred bull you can. Pay not so 

 much attention to his ancestors' prize winnings at the fairs, as to what 

 they can do at the pail and churn. Look for steady records all the way 

 back in the pedigree, and do not seek for one or two sensational records ; 

 do not put too much stress on noted animals far back in the pedigree, 

 but look more to those closer up. Try to be sure you are buying from 

 a reputable breeder ; get quotations from several of this class and com- 

 pare them ; then when you have selected two or three bulls that you think 

 will just suit you, write the owner of each, and get from him (if he has 

 not already sent you) full information regarding the sire and dam, 

 grand sire and grand dam of the bull you think of buying — don't be 

 afraid to ask him any question you want to know. Remember that it 

 means a lot to you not to make a mistake right here. After you have 

 bought your bull and got him home, give him the best place to stay that 

 you can, and a small pasture to run in, if possible, but do not let him run 

 with your cows. Always lead him with a staff, be kind with him, and 

 you will not likely have a vicious bull to deal with. Only allow one ser- 

 vice when your cow is in heat. It is enough, and saves your bull. Keep 

 this bull until a number of his calves have milked a good part of the 

 first year — and keep all of his first heifer calves that you can out of your 

 best cows. If the heifers show good improvement over their dams you 

 can feel that you are on the right track, and then you will want another 

 bull to cross onto your heifers. My advice is to get a bull out of the 

 same dam as your old bull, or out of her best daughters, and sired by a 

 bull that has been bred to them with success before. You will find that 

 your bull has nicked better with some of your cows than with others. 

 Always keep the best heifers and calves from them. You will now grad- 

 ually be selling off your old cows and keeping your improved heifers. 

 About the second cross you make you will find some of the heifers giv- 

 ing more milk and making more butter with their first calves than their 

 grandmothers ever made for you in the prime of their lives. Then you 

 will begin to realize what this improvement really means. Refer once 

 more to the dairy I spoke of having visited. Some of the cows in this 

 herd could have been bred to a proper sire, and in three generations a cow 

 could have been produced that would have given nearly twice the quan- 

 tity of milk, and the actual cost of feed would not have been more, but 

 most likely would be less. 



