176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



females from the cows of the country. If I were such a 

 man, I should pick out good, strong young cows that 

 promise to give a large amount of good milk. Then I 

 should purchase a lirst-class male Jersey, in this locality, 

 and then I would show my neighbors that I knew some- 

 thing al)out the process of breeding, and l)reed a herd that I 

 would be proud of. 



Mr. Myrick. Would you do that if you had to sell your 

 milk for two cents a quart? 



Professor Roberts. I would not sell milk for two cents 

 a quart, if I could avoid it. Yes, I think I would. 



Secretary Gold. Do you find the half-bloods better than 

 after you have bred them still higher ? 



Professor Roberts. Well, I am sorry to say that I could 

 not answer that question unless I had our taljulated state- 

 ment here. If I had our record before me, I could tell you 

 in a moment. 



Secretary Gold. Without any special record, but with 

 some miscellaneous practice, with one continuous line running- 

 through it, however, the result with me has l)een that the 

 half-bloods were better o-enerally than the higher grades. I 

 started with a miscellaneous herd. I selected thirty or forty 

 cows, put on a Shorthorn bull from an excellent milking 

 family, and I raised my half-bloods, three-quarters, seven- 

 eighths, and so on ; and presently my neighl)ors suggested 

 that my stock was getting too large, and that perhaps I 

 might improve by some other variety. In the mean time I 

 had some pure-bred Shorthorn females also. I put on a 

 Devon l)ull, and bred grade Devons (I had some })ure-breds, 

 too) untiFmy herd were all alike. I got some of the nicest 

 o'rade steers that you can imaiiine. The cows were all red, 

 and there was a little inconvenience, because some of them 

 were so much like others that we could not tell one cow 

 from another. So we selected an Ayrshire l)ull and some 

 pure-bred cows also, and we bred Ayrshires until every 

 animal in the herd was as spotted as those that Jacol) had. 

 Then we got the idea that pr()bal)ly the Ilolsteins were the 

 coming cows, and we put on a Ilolstein bull until black and 

 Avhite were the prevailing colors. In the mean time we de- 

 sired to go iulo the creamery business, and we found that 



