37 



cows, but he will greatly diminish the chances of introducing them 

 and prevent them to a large extent. He will be able to get a better 

 class of cows by breeding, avoid uncertainties and pass inferior 

 animals on to the butcher. 



The cow is not a "machine," with regularly listed speed and 

 capacity, but is vastly more susceptible to external conditions than 

 most machinery. Her capacity depends not only on her own in- 

 herent power of work, but also on a hundred other things, — food, 

 water, regularity of attendance, heat, flies, bed, exposure, worry, 

 etc. This is not all. The same cows, with as nearly the same 

 treatment as possible, on the same farm, will vary greatly from 

 one year to another. One cow is biennial, like an apple tree, — 

 giving a large product every other year, alternating with a year 

 of rest and recuperation, in which she does not pay her keep. 

 Another falls off without any apparent reason. There are also 

 the exigencies of retained afterbirth, milk fever, garget or accident, 

 which put the very best cows temporarily or permanently on the list 

 of boarders. Perhaps it is not too much to say that a cow rarely 

 does particularly well after a year in which she has made a phe- 

 nomenal product. 



Breeding for Improvement. 



In grading up a herd one must first decide upon the kind of 

 cattle that most nearly meet his requirements. No discussion of 

 breeds is here intended. Jerseys, Holsteiu-Friesiang, Guernseys, 

 Ayrshires, Shorthorns, Dutch Belted, Devons, Red Polls, Brown- 

 Swiss, etc., all have their strong points, and each is adapted to its 

 own peculiar place better than any of the others. Do not try to 

 keep Shorthorns where Ayrshires are more appropriate, nor Hol- 

 stein-Friesians where Devons would do better. Selection must be 

 made with reference to the qualities wanted and should be per- 

 manent. I have no patience with the continual change from one 

 breed to another, which so often results in a heterogeneous collec- 

 tion of misfits of indefinite characters. Choose the breed best 

 adapted to your requirements, and then select with equal care the 

 individuals that go to make up your herd. The individual within 

 a breed is of greater importance than the breed itself. There are 

 many scrub pure-breds, no better than common scrubs, but more 

 dangerous because of conjuring with pedigree. Pedigree is valu- 

 able as a reason for excellence, but not as an excuse for mediocrity. 



Then there are different characters within a breed, and one must 

 not only select the general type but the particular qualities wanted. 

 Do not try to breed butter fat into Holstein milk by a Jersey cross, 

 but rather select Holsteins of a family known to be richer than the 



