VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 



plies also to a large percentage of breeders of no small repu- 

 tation. Great changes have taken place in most breeds dur- 

 ing the past few years, and greater changes are yet to follow. 

 In the future the famous breeder will be the one who knows 

 his cows to a certainty, having learned them through the 

 only accurate manner, that of weighing and testing the milk 

 and keeping the records up to date and prizing them as he 

 now does that which the pedigree and conformation imply. 

 Then, and not until then, will the greatest advancement ensue, 

 for few, indeed, are the breeders who can boast of the fact 

 that they never sold their best cow without knowing how 

 really great she was. 



Keeping Records 



Furthermore, when all who term themselves breeders of 

 pure-bred dairy cattle weigh and test the milk of their cows, 

 the general farmer will soon do likewise, and it is then that he 

 will appreciate the blood that the breeder has to dispose of 

 through his bull calves. 



Not more than one year of record keeping is necessary 

 to convince the most skeptical that blood will tell and that 

 like produces like, and records will point conclusively to the 

 fact that certain breeds and certain, families are decidedly more 

 productive than others and that a still greater difference exists 

 between individuals. 



Continuous weighing and testing of milk, keeping in 

 touch with the records, and by their use selecting the best 

 cows to keep and those to sell to the man who has not time 

 to keep records; the use of good sires from productive an- 

 cestry and raising the best calves from the best cows will 

 result in time in a wonderful herd. 



In fact, it matters little how poor the herd being milked 

 today, careful and accurate selection of cows and sires to 

 mate with them will insure in a few generations a herd so 

 great that if properly fed and cared for it will have few 

 superiors, even including the breeder's herd. 



Establishing records for individual cows with the scales 

 and Babcock test demonstrates and proves the successes and 

 failures in selecting cows. There is no better source of in- 

 formation for establishing knowledge pertaining to the types, 

 breeds and families of cows that are desirable. By learning 

 the mistakes once made one is in a position to guard against 

 the same mistakes the second time, while, great as may be the 

 mistake, if the maker never learns of it, he will readily make 

 the same mistake a second, third and indefinite number of 

 times. 



On the other hand, it matters little how great the success 

 once made, if the maker never learns of it, he is not in a 

 position to repeat it with certainty. 



[83] 



