L. D. SEASS 

 "He learned from John and Henry.' 



^\ -OULTRIE county, Illinois is 

 ^^\^ known nationally as a Jer- 

 C ^ \{ sey breeding center. There 

 are enough herds of that breed in the 

 county to support three cooperative 

 bull associations. One of the finest 

 herds is that of L. D. Seass. 



When you see the Seass cattle and 

 look at their records it's hard to be- 

 lieve that the herd was started only 15 

 years ago. Every cow has a record of 

 500 pounds of butterfat a year or its 

 equivalent on twice-a-day milking. 



Queen of the herd is beautiful little 

 Pogis Majesty Duchess with a record 

 of 15,165 pounds of milk and 885.1 

 pounds of fat on twice-a-day milking. 

 This is the highest production ever 

 made by an Illinois cow under similar 

 conditions. 



This year, Seass was honored by the 

 Illinois Jersey Cattle Club for his out- 

 standing accomplishment in breeding 

 Jerseys. The fact that he started his 

 herd after he was 50 years of age makes 

 this honor all the more remarkable. 

 Think of the most outstanding dairy- 

 man you know. The chances are he 

 grew up in the business or started his 

 herd early in life. Not so with Seass. 



As a lad of 12, L. D. Seass had 

 ridden horseback with his father 

 through southern Illinois buying feed- 

 er cattle. Year after year father and 

 son made the trip. Each time the 

 younger Seass learned more tricks of 

 his father's trade, cattle feeding. 



Every year when they got the cattle 

 home they picked the best steer in 

 the lot and named him John. Then 

 they picked the poorest one and called 

 him Henry. They weighed John and 

 Henry at regular intervals and kept 

 accurate records. The Johns always 

 made the best gains and often returned 



a profit when the Henrys didn't. 



That's the way L. D. Seass learned 

 the feeding game. In fact, he learned 

 it so well that by the time he was 

 forty, he had earned a state-wide rep- 

 utation as feeder of fine cattle. The 

 University of Illinois extension folks 

 called on him often to help with les- 

 sons on feeding at farmers' short 

 courses. 



Seass was in his late forties when 

 he spoke at his last short course. A 

 short time later Providence played a 

 hand and he spent the next five years 

 fighting for his life against disease. 

 During those years he had time to 

 think. He recalled the years right after 

 the war when he and Dr. Yapp, pro- 

 fessor of dairy cattle at the University 

 of Illinois, toured the state together 

 lecturing at farmers' short courses. 



He recalled most vividly a statement 

 the professor made on their last trip 

 together. Yapp had said, "In beef 

 cattle feeding you have to sell your 

 stock in trade to make your profit." 



After five years of thinking it over, 

 Seass was convinced that breeding dairy 

 cattle would be more interesting than 



feeding and it would give him a steadier 

 income. Then he would keep his stock 

 in trade and have his profits, too. He 

 would, however, apply one practice to 

 dairying that he always followed in 

 feeding. That was to get the best 

 animals possible. 



At the University of Illinois, Seass 

 found the kind of animals he wanted 

 to start his herd. On Dr. Yapp's ad- 

 vice, he bought a young bull and a 

 heifer. 



With Johns and Henrys, weight was 

 a handy measure of their potential 

 money-making qualities. But Jersey 

 cows required a more elaborate system 

 of measurement. That system was sup- 

 plied the year after Seass started his 

 herd when the Moultrie County Farm 

 Bureau organized a cow testing asso- 

 ciation. After that, the Babcock tester 

 and the dairy scales could be used to 

 sift the Joans from the Henriettas in 

 the dairy herd. 



As a beginner, Seass had many nar- 

 row escapes from loss. One time 16 

 of his 19 cows had high fevers. The 

 local veterinarian asked for help in 

 {Continued on page 19) 



POGIS MAIESTY DUCHESS 

 Aa a 2-y«oa-old 632 pounda oi iat, am a 4-yT.-old 885.1 pounds. 



JULY. 1939 



17 



