428 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



every breeder to follow is, always breed from the best specimens of the best-bred families, if 

 success be expected, and always use a thoroughbred male. 



Age for Breeding. As a general rule, the female can be successfully used for breed 

 ing purposes at a considerably earlier age than the male. Her growth will necessarily be 

 retarded somewhat by the consequent drain upon her system of maintaining the foetus dur 

 ing the growing period, but this can be counteracted afterward by liberal feeding. Imma 

 ture males will be liable to produce weak and feeble offspring, and weakness in the offspring 

 tends to degeneracy of the breed ; besides, if a male have his powers unduly taxed at an early 

 age, they will be enfeebled for service in after years; hence his usefulness as a breeder will 

 be greatly impaired. Where size is desired, as a general rule, breed from mature animals; 

 but for milk production in all animals, early breeding is necessary. 



In breeding for the dairy, we believe in bringing early maturing heifers in at two years 

 old; for the reason that, at that age, the organs of secretion, like all parts of the body, are 

 in a more pliant condition than they will be at a later period, and they are consequently 

 more readily influenced. The secretion of milk is well calculated to develop them, and to 

 enlarge them to their utmost capacity. If the animal is to become a large milker when she 

 arrives at maturity, she must have abundant room to lay away large supplies of milk; and 

 the capacity for holding these supplies must be created while her system is pliant, elastic, and 

 easily influenced. 



Let the heifer be served towards the end of July, in August, or early in September, if she 

 will, and you bring the parturition in the following spring, at a time very favorable for the 

 production of milk. In spring the grasses are green, abundant, and tender, full of rich 

 milk-producing juices, which cause the largest development of the milk-forming organs. 



If, on the other hand, the first parturition of the young heifer takes place in winter, the 

 distention of the udder on dry forage is slight, and the product in milk corresponds. The 

 milk glands will have but slight development. Soon this habit will become a second nature, 

 so to speak, which no amount of feeding can wholly correct. The external signs of a good 

 milker may be there; but the yield does not come up to the production which they indicate; 

 and this fact will often explain an apparent exception to the established rules. We do not 

 hesitate to say, that, in our opinion, a heifer coming in in May or June, and properly 

 treated, will be worth a great deal more as a dairy cow than one coming in with her first calf 

 at any other season of the year. 



So far as our observation has gone (and the experience of the best dairymen will coin 

 cide), a heifer coming in at two years old, if properly fed, carefully milked, forced up, if you 

 please, to her utmost capacity of production, and made to hold out almost till the new milk 

 springs for a second calf, will invariably make a better milker than one coming in at three 

 years old. Of course, this supposes that the animal, as a calf, has been well fed, and kept in 

 a thriving condition up to the age of a year or fifteen months, when she may be served. 

 She should have a fair development and good growth, and it is better that she should be 

 mated to a small, rather than a large bull. The draught on her system for the nourish 

 ment of the foetus will be less severe than if she is fecundated by a large, over-grown bull. 



Besides stimulating the mammary glands to great activity, and enlarging their capacity 

 at this age, there is the additional advantage that the animal is more easily handled, usually 

 more docile; she may be better managed; and she arrives at her maturity of production 

 (which is not till after the third calf) a year earlier, so that a year is gained in her profit. 



To offset these great and manifest advantages, there is the liability to some check in her 

 growth and size, as previously stated, owing to the strain upon her system before it has 

 reached its full development. This may be guarded against and counteracted by liberal and 

 judicious feeding; and with this there will be no appreciable difference in size and thrift 



