lo Aug., i9°S.] T lie Breeding oj the Dairy Cow. 451 



besides rearing five valuable calves from her. In looking at the photo- 

 graph one cannot lose sight of the great resemblance between " Old Milk- 

 maid " and her descendants. They have bred true to type, and have 

 the old cow's characteristics strongly marked, and are all heavv milkers^. 

 Those shown in the illustration are as follow: — 



1. Milkmaid of Melrose No. 114; Sirt Laildie Fowler, Imp. 



2. Milkmaid of Melrose No. 165 ; Sire Handsome Herr. 



3. Milkmaid of Melrose No. 77 ; Sire Defender, Imp. 



4. Milkmaid of Melrose No. 42; Sire Laddie Thriler, Imji. 



5. Milkmaid of Melrose No. 187 ; Sire Handsome Herr. 



6. "Old Milkmaid"; Sire Duke. 



7. Milkmaifl of Melrose; Sire Handsome Herr. 



Heredity. 



To clearly illustrate this, attention is directed to the photograph of the 

 lenowned sire " Lady Superior's Progress," owned by Mr. W. Wood- 

 mason ; sire "Progress 3rd," Imported, 1575 J.H.B. ; dam, "Pretty 

 I.ady Superior " ; five times first and Champion Jersey Bull at the Mel- 

 bourne Royal Show, also First and Champion at Adelaide, and never 

 beaten in the show ring. This sire had the hereditar\- power strongh 

 concentrated in his system, heing the oftspring of parents, grand parents 

 and great grandparenrs which Avere noted for their heavy milking char- 

 acieristics, and he stamped his progenv likewi.se. 



In breeding, special regard should be paid to the outline structure,, 

 or good points of the bull to be used in the herd. He should have a; 

 small, well set head (see No. 3), large docile eye, rounded ribs, straight 

 legs, small bones, and sound internal organs. The breeder should bear 

 in mind that the hereditary power already referred to, which is so valu- 

 able and important and on which the whole improvement must depend, 

 is hidden, and cannot be detected bv the eye. That shows the value 

 of a good pedigree, which guarantees the quality of the ancestry. The 

 pedigree ought to be studied on both sides, and in that way and in ihat 

 way alone, can we breed with anv degree of certainty in regard to the 

 result. There is no doubt, in mv judgment, that the male parent, whe- 

 ther stallion, boar, ram or bull, exercises a greater influence on the 

 offspring than the mother does. It is well known to- the breeders of 

 Aryshire cattle that the sire has an important influence upon the form 

 and functional activity of the udder, and the position and false teats 

 or nipples of the bull are believed to furnish an indication of the milking 

 qualities he will be likeh- to transmit. It is of the utmost importance 

 that well bred, well formed sires, be emplo\ed for the improvement of 

 our dairy herds. 



Amongst dair\men, one <jften hears the e-xpression, " The bull is 

 half the herd." This is literally true and it is a great pity that it is 

 not more fully recognised. Of the qualities transmitted to the calf the 

 bull furnishes half. The cow influences the character of but one calf 

 a year, the bull passes on his characteristics to many calves, to all calves 

 of an ordinary sized herd. When he is selected, half the character of 

 all the calves is determined. In a herd of 30 cows his influence is as 

 m-uch as that of the whole number of cows put together. If the bull 

 selected is de.scended from parents possessed with a pure pedigree and 

 heavy milking capabilities, he will naturally be superior to the cows he 

 is mated with in the ordinary grade dairy herd of cows, and the 



p 2 



