11 June, 1917.] Breeding for the Dairy. 373 



BREKDING FOR THE DAIRY. 



Bii J!. II. Kerr, Dairy Supervisor. 



Cattle breeding is a comprehensive study, and has reached a liigh 

 state of excellence in some countries. To the dairy student the excellence 

 of the cattle coming trom Ayrshire, in Scotland, Holland, and the Jersey 

 Islands provides matter for thought, as year after year many of their 

 best animals have been exported to distant lands, but still they are able 

 to maintain that high standard of excellence which lias made tliem 

 famous. The only possible solution seems to be that these qualities are 

 strouglv inherent, as the result of countless generations of line and 

 inbreeding. Tiie breed had to be synonymous in every way with the 

 people who inhabited these lands, famo\is for their frugality and saving 

 capacity. In early times, and up to the present day, they exercise the 

 greatest cai-e in the selection of their dairy sires, and societies have been 

 known to prohibit the exportation of a sire that was thought to be an 

 acquisition. So many females have to be served by bulls winning certain 

 prizes. The same conditions apply to many bulls leaving the Islands. 

 Almost any pure sire will improve a grade herd, but it takes more than 

 ordinary skill to select a sire to improve a pure herd already of high 

 excellence. All pedigreed males are not suited for sires, and probably 

 more than half of those born should be eliminated by a process of 

 selection. 



Intelligent breeding is done with a definite purpose in view, having 

 in mind at all times the ideal one aspires to. In the case of a young 

 bull, it would be folly to use such a sire lacking in most of the essential 

 points that go to make constitutional perfection, although his pedigree 

 and performance behind him were of the best, since such a sire is nearly 

 sure to transmit some of his physical defects to his offspring, irrespective 

 of his dam. 



Breeding is carried on to perpetuate the breed and to produce varia- 

 tions in certain desired directions. If there were no variations, there 

 v%ould be no improvement. However, heredity gives one the only jxis- 

 sible assurance that variations will not be spasmodic, but fixed. Good 

 physical qualifications in the selection of a sire are of the utmost im- 

 portance, as physical defects generally come out in the next generation. 

 Cows that produce an abnormal flow of milk or butter must of necessity 

 have a good constitution. Sires should possess to a marked degree the 

 inheritance of prepotency, and it behoves the breeder, when selecting 

 one for his registered herd, to secure an animal that is as nearly 

 physically perfect as possible, as well as great production behind him, 

 thus combining the two factors that a dairy animal should possess — 

 " type and production." A bull's value as a sire is to be judged by 

 the average quality of his progeny, and not by the excellence of isolated 

 members. Instances are on record when a bull has made a great name 

 for himself by siring some wonderful producers, but when searching 

 investigations have been made, there has been a greater number of 

 failures. Then, again, some bulls kept in large herds have greater 

 opportunities for proving their value, while others have been used only 

 On a few cows The only fair comparison is by the average quality of 

 the progeny. Many of our best sires have been destroyed before their 

 value was known. The impression generally prevails that when a bull 

 is six years old his period of usefulness has ended, but such is not the 

 case ; when judiciously used he is fit for service to at least twelve years 

 of age. 



