IMPROVING THE DAIRY HERD 113 



individual type. Such a sire need not cost more 

 than one-tenth of the grade herd which he heads, 

 yet he may have the most influence in the improve- 

 ment of the herd. 



Service records. One of the essential things on a 

 dairy farm is to keep a careful record of the date of 

 service of all cows, the name of the bull employed, 

 date of calving, sex of calf, and whether raised or 

 sold. The accompanying form will serve as a sug- 

 gestion for keeping such records. It was used for 

 a number of years by the author, and found practi- 

 cable. 



Raising the cows from best calves. Many dairy- 

 men are not raising their heifer calves. They 

 are sold for veal, whether good or bad. Provision 

 should be made for perpetuating the dairy herd, 

 particularly the best cows in it, otherwise the best 

 blood is soon gone and splendid opportunities for 

 building up the herd thrown away. This is a serious 

 practice and should be carefully considered by every 

 dairyman. He can well take a lesson here from the 

 careful breeder who makes every effort to per- 

 petuate the blood of his best animals, and frequently 

 resorts to the practice of inbreeding to intensify 

 good qualities. The custom of buying all the cows has 

 a tendency to lower rather than raise the standard 

 of the herd, for the reason that few of the best cows 

 are for sale, and a dealer can supply his purchasers 

 with only a limited number of good cows. 



The dairyman who raises his own cows is inde- 

 pendent of the cow-dealer and is more certain of 

 good stock in the end. Heifers raised from the best 



