46 GUIDE TO DAIRYING IN SOUTH AFRICA 



or two performers, for every dairy breed in exist- 

 ence has one, two, or more phenomenal records on 

 which it would be a great mistake and extremely 

 disappointing to select a breed and expect them to 

 average a yield anything as high as that particular 

 record. 



Each breed has its especial good qualities as 

 well as its peculiar weaknesses, and no one breed 

 is best suited to all districts, or all branches of 

 dairy work. In Bulletin No. 151 issued by the 

 United States Agricultural Department, and written 

 by Professor Tracey, we find the following direc- 

 tions : 



" Though many attempts have been made to 

 develop a breed of cattle profitable for beef and 

 milk, success in that direction has never been 

 reached, and it seems more than probable that 

 such a breed will never be secured. It is the 

 natural tendency of every cow to use her surplus 

 food either in growth and the laying on of fat, or 

 in the production of milk. Either of these ten- 

 dencies may be greatly strengthened by intelligent 

 breeding and selection, but no breed has ever been 

 developed which excels in both beef and butter- 

 making qualities, and improvement in one direction 

 has usually been accompanied by a corresponding 

 loss in the other. It is true that there are some 

 breeds which make animals of fair size and which 

 are also fair dairy animals, but they are only fair as 

 either. The best beef animal and the best milking 



