39 



buying cheap bulls. He had had abortion, impotency and other 

 troubles enough. He had just paid $23 for a really good service 

 bull. It reminded me of the colored man who bought a horse for 

 75 cents, which died on the way home. He remarked, " I'll hab 

 a good hors nex' time if it costs foah dollars." It is not good 

 husbandry to support a low-grade bull. It will pay even an ordi- 

 nary grade breeder to keep an animal worth $100. 



Some attention must be paid in selection to correcting the de- 

 fects of the other sex. Pedigree should count, but individual 

 merit counts more. The value of pedigree depends mainly upon 

 the character of the immediate ancestors. Excellence in remote 

 ancestors, interesting and desirable though it is, must not be 

 allowed to cover up deficiencies in parents or grandparents. Much 

 conjuring is done with the names of great ancestors which would 

 doubtless be ashamed to own some of the descendants now claim- 

 ing their ancestry. There is also a prepotency in some individuals 

 that clothes them with unusual power to stamp their qualities on 

 their get. This is partly the effect of pure breeding, but it is only 

 an occasional sire that manifests it strongly. When such a sire is 

 found he should be duly prized and retained in service as long as 

 possible. 



Rearincj and Developing Heifers. 



Some attention may well be paid to the selection of heifer calves. 

 Those of very small size, or weak, or seriously defective have no 

 place in the young herd. We are accustomed to have much regard 

 to the parentage and we do well ; but no less attention is due to 

 the young heifer itself. The next consideration is the growtli of 

 the calf. At no period can growth be more economically secured 

 than during calfhood. Only choice registered calves are reared on 

 whole milk in this State, and it is doubtful if it will pay to use 

 whole milk for common stock where a cheaper substitute is available, 

 A set-back during the first few weeks is hard to overcome after- 

 wards. Feeding a little whole milk in the ration during the first 

 month is one of the best ways of insuring against setbacks. 



My practice of rearing calves has been to separate the calf 

 from its dam after the first full meal. It is taught to drink and 

 feed on its mother's milk for a week, in moderate feeds twice 

 a day. Warm separator milk is gradually substituted during the 

 second week, until it forms almost the entire feed. About a quart 

 of new milk per day is fed till the end of the first month. Two 

 feeds daily are given, always warm and never excessive in amount ; 

 but three feeds per day would be better. Calves are taught to eat 

 dry grain after two weeks old and given ad lihitum a mixture of 

 corn meal, oil meal, bran and ground oats in about equal parts. 



