454 Jotirnal of Agriculture. [loAuc, i9o8„- 



find traces of nearlv all the breeds in existence, and this majority of 

 cows is the class that produces less than 300 gallons of milk each a year, 

 Avhen by proper care and breeding thev should produce between 500 and 

 600 gallons. 



A man will not pay high and fancy prices for mixed breeds of any 

 kind of stock — it is the pure breeds that are wanted first. One often 

 hears the argument used, that a cross makes the better animal. Is it 

 so, or is the cross of two pure breeds a compromise ? Granted that the 

 cross is better the first time; what is it the next? If brc-eding is con- 

 tinued on these lines the result will be a repetition of the old, old story. 

 Two breeds crossed with two distinct purposes — one beneficent, for ever 

 giving ; the other miserly, for ever storing up, only to give back what is 

 eaten in l>eef. The dual-purjx>se cow from a theoretical point of view 

 sounds good. It is very well to sav that we want to breed a cow that 

 will give a large flow of milk, and at the same time produce a calf, 

 which, if it happens to be a steer, will turn out to be a fattener of as 

 good a quality as though it had been dropped by a good beef cow. 

 The trouble in most cases is that nearly all farmers like the look of a 

 nice, fat cow better than they do one of a strong dairy type, which is 

 usually not a model of beauty and symmetry. It is quite true that 

 there are occasionallv individuals in these breeds that are fair milkers; 

 sometimes even excellent milkers are found. But after all they are 

 few in number, and the worst of it all is that even though vou do get 

 a bull from a good milk strain, that bull is most likely to produce calves 

 totally unsuited for the dairv. What else can one expect when breeding 

 on these lines ? Have not these cows and bulls been bred for beef, 

 generation after generation? Are they not valued because of their 

 square, beefy type ? The great trouble with most dairymen is that they 

 do not know what their cows yield. If they would keep a record of 

 the yields of their cows and test the same, thev would soon learn that 

 dairy blood counts. If you were to ask even the strongest advocate of 

 the' general purpose cow what constitutes the standard, or ask him to 

 minutely describe to you what to look for when buying such an animal, 

 it is safe to say he could not do so. for he does not know himself. 

 There is no standard to go bv and the whole thing resolves itself into 

 luck. 



We may, therefore, from these and other similar facts, \\hirh could 

 be further extended, be justified in concluding that, so far as regards 

 the size, general appearance, external form, and muscular development, 

 the influence of the male is superior and stronger to that of the female. 

 Yet it must be clearly understood, that I do not wish it to be inferred 

 by the stress I have laid upon the importance of the selection of the bull, 

 that the qualities of the female are a matter of indifference. So far 

 from this being the case, I would censure in the strongest terms, any 

 neglect displayed in the selection of the qualifications necessary in the 

 cow to be used for breeding purposes. It is of the utmost importance 

 to study the breeding and milking qualifications of the cow as those of 

 the bull, though the respective excellencies may not be the same. Heredi- 

 tary disease, and weakness of constitution are much more likely to be 

 transmitted to the offspring by the cow than the bull, which is in keep- 

 ing with the long and intimate connexion maintained between the cow 

 and her calf, both before and after birth, till weaning takes place. 

 As the. same blood nourishes both, each is likely to become affected by 

 any unhealthy change in this fluid. Soundness of constitution is, there-- 



