

tU WHITCOMB'S FABMSTEAD 

 "The most iertil* pail of Carnation Inka Sir Bessie'* liie 

 ■pent on Hancock county ianns." 



CARNATION COMBINATION 

 The next sire ior the Company. Will hia daugh- 

 ters produce more butteriat than Inka's? Hia 

 pedigree indicates that they wiU. 



With the help of C. S. Rhode, dairy 

 extension specialist with the University 

 of Illinois, they studied breeds. They 

 decided that Holsteins would best suit 

 their needs. 



through the secretary of the Illinois 

 Holstein-Friesian Association they 

 learned that the A. S. Benson herd near 

 Grayslake was to be dispersed at auc- 

 tion. With the backing of Archie 

 Booz, Adrian banker, Ed Whitcomb 

 attended the sale, bought 11 heifers and 

 three yearlings. 



In need of a bull that would build 

 their herds, the three newly initiated 

 dairymen bought Illini Ona Longfield 

 Ormsby from the University of Illinois 

 on the advice of C. S. Rhode. The 

 bull cost $200, served the three herds 

 for three years. 



During that time a few folks in 

 Hancock county had been talking about 

 their neighbors who had gone "high- 

 hat and got into the full-blood cow 

 game." Wisecrackers and unbelievers 

 had seen plungers go bankrupt in the 

 purebred livestock business in war 

 times and they declared that Ash, Myers 

 and Whitcomb would go broke, too. 



"We formed the plan of buying a 

 bull together because we were tired of 

 feeding and milking unprofitable cows. 

 1 used a Babcock tester and a scales 

 on those old scrubs and about the best 

 they could do was 170 pounds of fat 

 a year. I'll never milk that kind again," 

 Ed declares. 



Their plan had several merits. First, 

 by pooling the funds that each man 

 would pay for a bull they could get 

 one sire that would improve their 

 herds. Then, too, there would be only 

 one bull to feed instead of three. Ed 

 says that they save |200 a year on feed 

 alone. A third point is that surplus 

 purebred stock would bring higher 

 prices than grades. 



Assuming that each member of the 

 bull ring would buy his own sire any- 



32 



way, valuable breeders have cost these 

 men nothing. 



Ed's brother, Albert, Emery Mapes 

 and Howard Perry, all farmers south- 

 east of Adrian, saw that the plan would 

 make money for them, too, if they were 

 in it. The original three realized that 

 with three more members in the bull 

 ring they could buy better sires and 

 keep them longer by trading with each 

 other. 



In 1927, the six breeders formed the 

 Adrian Holstein Company. Members 

 had small herds ranging from eight to 

 fifteen cows. They are not, strictly 

 speaking, dairymen but are corn and 

 hog growers. 



Woodmont Sir Echo Eclipse of Mor- 

 risville. New York, was the company's 

 next sire. They bought him at 15 

 months of age for $350 plus $93 ship- 

 ping costs. His daughters all pro- 

 duced more milk than their dams. 



The third sire was King Jenny Wren 

 Pontiac Prilly. He was purchased from 

 Carnation Farms for $650 in 1929. 



The company was now in a two-bull 

 unit. One sire could serve the three 

 breeders northwest of town for three 

 years and the three southeast during 

 the next three years. 



Seeking a sire that would combine 

 production with type, Ed Whitcomb 

 made a thorough study of types and 

 pedigrees. His study showed that 

 one of the best sires of the breed was 

 Matador Segis Ormsby. Following Ed's 

 advise, the company bought Carnation 

 Walker Ormsby Segis from Carnation 

 Farms for $750. 



"Walker was such a good bull that 

 we kept him until he died. His grand- 

 sire was Matador Segis Ormsby and 

 that is the breeding we are intensify- 

 ing. Walker later became a' proven 

 sire," Ed says. 



The fifth sire was Carnation Inka 

 Sir Bessie the bull that is now in Italy. 

 Sir Bessie's grandsire was also Matador 



WHITCOMB AND SON, DAIRYMEN 

 Above: lames Whitcomb, aged 9. does 

 his share oi iarm work and milking. 

 "Someday soon we'll be iorced into a 

 schedule of three milkings a day to save 

 our cows' udders." says Ed Whitcomb, 

 lower picture. Will Mussolini be required 

 to do the same? . . 



I. A. A. RECORD 



