196 



AGRICULTURE FOR BEGINNERS 



by using pure-bred sires that possess the characteristics 

 desired. Scrub stock can be quickly improved by the con- 

 tinuous use of good sires. It is never wise to use grade or 

 cross-bred sires, since they do not possess stable characters. 

 Moreover, it is possible for every farmer to determine 

 exactly the producing power of his dairy cows. When 

 the cows are milked, the milk should be weighed and a 

 record kept. If this be done, it will be found that some 



cows produce as 

 much as four 

 hundred or five 

 hundred gallons a 

 year, while others 

 produce not more 

 than half that 

 quantity. If a 

 farmer kill or sell 

 his poor cows and 

 keep his best ones, 

 he will in a short 

 while have a herd 



of only heavy milkers. Ask your father to try this plan. 

 Read everything you can find about taking care of cows 

 and improving them, and then start a herd of your own. 



Conclusions, (i) A cow with a tendency to get fat is 

 not profitable for the dairy. (2) A thin, open, angular cow 

 will make expensive beef. (3) " The sire is half the herd." 

 This means that a good sire is necessary to improve a herd 

 of cattle. The improvement from scrubs upward is as 

 follows : the first generation is one half pure ; the second 

 is three fourths pure ; the third is seven eighths pure ; the 



FIG. 177. SHORTHORN Cow 



