PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



others. For example the Aberdeen-Angus is black, a 

 dominant color in inheritance no matter what breed of 

 cattle it is found in, and polled, also a dominant character, 

 hence it markedly affects the appearance of its calves. 

 This is only in appearance, however, as other breeds are 

 able to build up the iattening tendency just as rapidly. 



Neither sire nor dam transmits to 

 The Relative their offspring all of the qualities 

 Influence of which they possess, but on the average 



Sire and Dam each transmits only half. On this 

 account it is highly important to have 

 well bred bulls so that their contribution to the offspring 

 will be more uniform. The cows of the herd always 

 carry more widely divergent characters than it is pos- 

 sible for any one bull to possess, hence their hereditary 

 contribution to the calves will be very much more variable 

 than the hereditary contribution of the bull. Therefore 

 the old statement that the bull is half of the herd is cor- 

 rect, but if we consider his power to make the herd 

 uniform, we can really consider him as having more than 

 a fifty percent influence. 



Purebred sires to increase the pro- 

 The Proportion duction of better beef animals, provide 

 of Purebred the most serious need of the live- 



Cattle stock industry at present. While the 



cattle producers of the cornbelt and 

 of the range, in general realize the desirability of the 

 better bred sires there are other sections of the country 

 in which the real value of the improved type is not 

 understood, and in which such campaigns as the Better 

 Sire Movement are bound to bring first-class results. 

 The 1920 Census reports 66,652,559 cattle on farms in 

 the United States. Of this number only 3 percent, or 

 1,981,514 are purebred, and of these 1,064,912 are cattle 

 of the beef breeds. 



Page Eighteen 



