SUGGESTIONS TO YOUNG BREEDERS 251 



to maintain life and produce growth and vigor. It is a 

 serious mistake to be niggardly in the use of feed. Further- 

 more, no herd can do other than go backward, if the animals 

 are not fed wisely. Young growing stock, starved and 

 neglected, become inferior in development, and in due season 

 naturally reproduce inferior offspring. A true stockman 

 always enjoys seeing his animals eat, and realizes that some- 

 thing is wrong if they do not show a hearty appetite. 



Do not be led astray by fads. Develop a herd that com- 

 bines the useful and beautiful in the highest possible degree, 

 for these two important features naturally go together. 

 Leave out of consideration pedigrees that do not stand for 

 merit. Remember that peculiarities of form often are of 

 little real value, and that it is not wise to go to extremes in 

 these things. Do not make color a vital thing with those 

 breeds in which variation in this respect occurs. Whether 

 an Ayrshire cow is one-fourth or three-fourths white, is a 

 very superficial matter. Her general conformation, con- 

 stitution, and producing capacity, are the important sub- 

 jects to consider, rather than the color fad. 



Study your local environment, and learn what class of 

 stock you will be most likely to succeed with on the land and 

 under the conditions which surround you. As a rule, it is 

 best to keep the sort of live stock that is most common in 

 the community. If in any one county in a state there was 

 but a single breed of hogs, for example, with many herds 

 represented, it would result in more buyers coming into that 

 section for this special breed, than would come otherwise. 

 They would visit this locality because the greatest selection 

 of individuals for sale would be at hand within a limited terri- 

 tory. This would save the buyer time and money. It would 

 also be a fine thing for the sellers, because of the number of 

 men coming in to inspect their stock. 



