18 

 INFLUENCE OF THE PUREBRED REGISTERED SIRE 



By Prof. Ralph J. Borden. 



Much has been said and written on the influence of the dairy 

 sire in increasing production of dairy herds, and yet a great many 

 of our dairymen still think that "a bull is a bull" and continue to 

 use the scrub sire. 



No better example of the value of a good purebred sire can be 

 found than in one of our Island dairy herds, where by continued 

 use of purebred sires the herd production has been materially in- 

 creased during the last five years. In the year 1914 the daily 

 average per cow was 15.8 pounds of milk. In 1917 it was 22.-1 

 pounds, and for the first six months of 1918 it was 22.4 pounds. 

 The average per cent of butterfat has also increased from 3.1% 

 in 1914 to 3.35 7o last year, and all this improvement has come 

 about without any increase in the amount of grain ration being 

 fed. 



To be more specific : A grade Holstein cow — sire and dam un- 

 known — produced in her best average lactation period (9 mos.) 

 6561.3 pounds of milk, containing 223.08 pounds of butterfat. 

 One of her daughters from a registered sire, at 5 years of age, 

 produced 8600.4 pounds of milk, containing 288.11 pounds but- 

 terfat. Another daughter by a registered sire, at 4 years of age, 

 produced 7491.1 pounds of milk and 277.2 pounds fat, and would 

 have done better had she not accidentally lost one quarter. 



Another instance : Two purebred Holstein heifers among a lot 

 imported in 1915 were bred to purebred sires owned in California. 

 No. 1 was of only average breeding herself and had not the ideal 

 dairy temperament, being somewhat beefy. No. 2 was a type, 

 well bred animal, her dam and seven nearest dams all being A. R. 

 O. cows and she herself later made an A. R. O. record in Hawaii. 

 No. I's daughter has surpassed No. 2's daughter in both milk 

 production and butterfat. Concisely this is what we have : Two 

 cows whose sires are of equal value but dams of unequal value, 

 and the progeny of the poorer dam proving superior to that of 

 the better dam. This tends to prove that the sire is the dominat- 

 ing factor in the improvement of dairy cattle. 



There are many other instances of grade cows sired by regis- 

 tered bulls which are surpassing their dam's best lactation periods 

 during their first or second years of production ; more visible evi- 

 dence of the value of the purebred sire. 



And in this connection it might be urged upon our dairymen 

 and farmers that they be not satisfied with a "so called purebred 

 bull" but that they demand that he be registered with some par- 

 ticular breed association. This is a guarantee that the bull really 

 is what he is represented to be and may prove of much value as 

 the bull grows older. 



