PROCEEDINGS STATE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION 71 



siderably smaller. A daughter of Crusty — Posie — sired by a scrub bull 

 produced only 4,047 pounds milk and 185 pounds butter fat. Here was 

 an example of the damage a scrub bull can do to a herd. Posie produced 

 2,435 pounds less milk and 128 pounds less butter fat a year than her 

 dam. Think what it would have meant had 20 cows like Crusty been 

 bred to such a bull! Yet thousands of farmers are doing such things 

 every year. 



Another exhibit was a cow sired by a pure-bred Holstein bull and out 

 of a scrub dam. Her yearly record was 5,469 pounds milk and 247 pounds 

 butter fat. A daughter from this mating sired by a pure-bred Holstein 

 bull produced 9,840 pounds milk and 420 pounds butter fat. Here was 

 a second cross heifer that produced 4,371 pounds more milk and 173 

 pounds more butter fat per year than the first cross, showing remark- 

 ably rapid improvement. Nettie 2d, another first cross cow, produced 

 6,903 pounds milk and 241 pounds butter fat per year. Nettie's daughter 

 sired by a pure-bred Holstein bull produced 7,610 pounds milk and 299 

 pounds butter fat in a year, showing an improvement of 707 pounds milk 

 and 58 pounds butter fat. Still another exhibit was the cow Nigger, 

 a grade Holstein, that yielded 4,438 pounds milk and 190 pounds butter 

 fat. A daughter of hers sired by a pure-bred Holstein bull produced 9,008 

 pounds milk and 308 pounds butter fat in a year, showing an increase 

 of 4,570 pounds milk and 118 pounds butter fat. The average produc- 

 tion of these three first cross cows was 5,603 pounds milk and 226 

 pounds butter fat a year, while the second cross cows averaged 8,819 

 pounds milk and 342 pounds butter fat — showing an increase of 57 

 per cent in the yield of milk and 51 per cent in the yield of fat. Had 

 every Iowa farmer been able to see this demonstration of the value of 

 good dairy sires in herd improvement we believe that scrub and grade 

 sires would soon go out of use. 



An equally interesting demonstration of the value of good blood was 

 eeen in the boys' and girls' baby beef class this year where there were 

 three calves sired by Lord Gainford, a six-year-old Shorthorn bull owned 

 by Lewis & Williams, Marshalltown, la. One of these calves. Count 

 Gainford, was out of a pure-bred Shorthorn cow and won first In the 

 Shorthorn baby beef class. Another of these calves. Laddie, was out 

 of Old Timer, an old red cow of unknown breeding. Laddie stood fifth 

 in the same class of baby beeves. 



Considering the fact that business has been dull this year for those 

 engaged in the manufacture and sale of farm implements and machinery, 

 the machinery display at the fair was exceedingly fine. Tractors, trucks, 

 automobiles, gas engines, farm lighting plants, implements of tillage 

 and other farm machinery were to be seen in large quantities on the 

 grounds; in fact, the machinery display was most excellent, and those 

 who made it are to be congratulated for their confidence in the future. 

 This year no machinery men came to the fair with the expectation of 

 many sales, but rather to show their goods to the public. Implement 

 and machinery dealers were conspicuous by their absence from the fair, 

 but exhibitors were well pleased with the interest shown by farmers. 

 Tractor men saw no lack of interest in their machines, although they 

 sold but few iron horses. All were convinced, however, that the future 



