62 Milk and Its Products 



conditions of environment, which, so far as the ordi- 

 nary dairy herd is concerned, means simply more 

 food; and that it was perpetuated in the case of pure- 

 bred animals by selection. Having obtained improve- 

 ment now by the use of a pure -bred male on com- 

 mon or mixed females, it is, of course, necessary 

 that it shall be maintained by liberal care and 

 feeding. A pure -bred animal can transmit only its 

 inherited tendencies, and if these inherited tendencies 

 are not backed up by abundant and nutritious food, 

 the improvement secured is sure to be lost. Having 

 now secured a marked improvement in two or three 

 generations by the use of a pure -bred male on com- 

 mon pr mixed females, with intelligent selection and 

 intelligent inbreeding, the further course of improve- 

 ment is the maintenance of proper conditions of 

 environment and careful selection. As generations 

 come on, characteristics of the original pure -bred sire 

 will become more and more fixed and uniform, rever- 

 sions will be less and less frequent, and the herd will 

 be practically pure-brecl from the standpoint of the 

 capacity of individual members to reproduce their 

 characteristics, though they never become eligible to 

 registration in the herd book. This is a course that 

 has been successfully practiced in the improvement of 

 a large number of herds of dairy animals, and is 

 entirely within the reach of anyone of ordinary skill 

 and intelligence. 



Major and minor dairy breeds. The breeds of dairy 

 cattle have been developed in the main in localities 

 where, for 'one reason or another, a dairy industry 



