

BREEDING AND TREATMENT OF DAIRY CATTLE. 37 



two reasons viz., his lack of prepotency, and the fact that his 

 own ancestry has been bred in the happy-go-lucky manner so 

 common in the country. Such a bull, if he has a promising 

 appearance, is so far a fortunate accident of nature, but there is 

 no certainty whatever that his offspring will be as good-looking 

 as he ; the certainty indeed is that it will not, if there is any 

 certainty about it. 



On the other hand, it occurs often enough that thoroughly 

 well-bred bulls, and cows too, do not show up as well as 

 they ought, or as they were reasonably expected to do, and 

 so far are not ornaments of the families to which they 

 belong. Yet animals like these are always worth buying, and 

 frequently well worth buying, at the moderate prices to which 

 their want of good looks has consigned them. They are worth 

 buying, because their want of good looks being merely an 

 accident of nature they will in all probability produce off- 

 spring much better looking than themselves. This sort of 

 reasoning is applicable not only to looks, but to qualities too, 

 as a general thing. The rank and file of dairy farmers cannot 

 well afford to buy the good-looking young bulls that fetch 

 fancy prices, or used to fetch them ; and indeed they may rest 

 content as a rule with the plainer sires, for these will probably 

 " nick in " with their cows just about as well as the others. But 

 in respect of either sort, it is a sine qufi, non that the bull should 

 have a healthy and vigorous constitution, and not have been 

 pampered and coddled too much should, indeed, not have 

 been pampered or coddled at all but just brought up on good 

 plain food, and in a hardy sort of way as to housing and general 

 treatment. In any case, the " greenhouse " way of rearing 

 young bulls is played out, once for all, so far as practical dairy 

 farmers are concerned. 



Pedigree Bulls. 



The sort of cows that dairy farmers should aim to breed are 

 they which possess rnilk, size, condition, and good looks. 

 These are the qualities that command a good price in the 

 market, and dairy farmers must needs be always breeding and 



