140 BETTER DAIRY FARMING 



appointment. Above all in this first pure bred female get a good 

 one because she truly is the foundation cow. 



213. Mating. — In mating animals a single service is all that 

 is necessary. Nothing is accomplished by a second service. There 

 are thousands and thousands of sperm cells in the semen coming 

 from a single service and only one is needed to fertilize the egg. 

 Therefore, protect the bull by not overworking him. Try to dis- 

 tribute the breeding so that at no time will it be necessary to use 

 the bull twice in the same day. 



Heavy, old bulls can safely be used on young heifers if a breed- 

 ing crate is used. Directions for building one can be obtained by 

 writing to your agricultural college. 



214. Inbreeding. — Much has been said on this subject, but 

 more good has come from inbreeding than any single instrument 

 in the hands of the breeder. Inbreeding is the breeding together of 

 related individuals. It may be as close as the breeding of a sire 

 to his daughters or of breeding together full brothers and sisters. 

 Judicious inbreeding can always be depended on to help in bringing 

 about uniformity and increased production, if it is combined with 

 careful selection always toward the ideal of greater size, better 

 type, and better production. The only thing to remember is that 

 bad points will be emphasized just as strongly as good ones. 



215. Line breeding. — Line breeding is the use of inbreeding 

 among related animals within a family without having the relation- 

 ship too close. Line breeding is illustrated in the pedigree of 

 Langwater Fearless, page 126. Imp. King of the May is the grand- 

 sire on the sire's side and the great-great-grandsire on the dam's 

 side. Thus, Langwater Fearless is said to be line bred to Imp. 

 King of the May on both sides. This line breeding of course makes 

 him an inbred bull also, but not closely inbred. Such line breeding 

 has been the instrument which has fixed type and made families 

 famous. 



216. Breeding efficiency. — One of the strongest factors in 

 the success of any herd is breeding efficiency. For the greatest 

 milk production we must have our cows produce a calf once a year. 

 A simple record of the time each cow is bred and the number of 



