56 Milk and Its Products 



such a bull should be purely bred. There are still 

 far too many immature and ill-bred bulls in use. 

 As a matter of convenience, a yearling bull is turned 

 with the herd about the first of June, and in the 

 course of two or three months, when all, or nearly 

 all, of the cows have become pregnant, and he has 

 fattened up, he is sold again at a price little, if any, 

 below his cost, and the dairyman is without the 

 trouble of the care of a bull for several months. If, 

 in addition to this, little attention is paid to the 

 breeding of the bull, it is easily seen that little, if 

 any, improvement in the character of the herd can 

 be expected from his offspring. The progeny that a 

 bull has already produced, is by far the best index 

 of his usefulness that a prospective purchaser can 

 have. Cattle do not reach full maturity, in either 

 sex, until they are about four or five years old. Con- 

 sequently, the best bull to select is a bull not less 

 than four years old that has already begot cows of a 

 high productive capacity. Such a bull is, of course, 

 more difficult to control, and more expensive to keep, 

 but he is worth many times the trouble and expense, 

 as compared with an immature yearling. 



In the selection of a bull much has been made of 

 various so-called milk signs: Rudimentary teats, milk 

 veins, escutcheon, etc. While each and all of these 

 may be of some value, they are by no means to be set 

 against the record that a bull has made in the pro- 

 duction of his daughters. Other personal character- 

 istics of the bull that indicate vigor of constitution, 

 good digestive organs, and vital activities, in general, 



