SECRETARY'S REPORT. 33 



would probably bring no more, than good common cows which 

 could be picked up in the neighborhood, or in the droves from 

 Maine or Vermont. The same expense incurred in raising pure- 

 breds would produce animals that would bring two or three 

 times as much, on account of the blood or the pedigree. Blood 

 has a money value, for breeding purposes, but only pure blood. 

 If there is any taint, if the animal is a grade, no matter what 

 the grade may be, she is to be judged in the dairy, solely on her 

 merits as a milker. A strain of Ayrshire, or Shorthorn, or 

 Jersey blood, is worth nothing in her, as a breeder, unless it 

 happens to give more than ordinary qualities at the pail, and 

 then not on account of the blood, but on account of these 

 qualities. Not so with a pure-bred animal. She may be good, 

 or she may be indifferent, as an individual, but she carries the 

 blood whose characteristics are well known, and if they do not 

 appear in her, they will come out in her offspring, and this gives 

 her a money value over and above that based on her intrinsic 

 qualities as a milker. 



There is another olijoction to the cross proposed, if the Ayr- 

 shire heifers are full bloods, as I understood those at the alms- 

 house were, and that is, that after the cross with a Jersey, they 

 would not be fit to breed pure Ayrshires from. They would be 

 comparatively worthless as breeders of pure stock ever after. 

 This principle in breeding is well established. If the animals in 

 question are not pure bloods, it matters little what they are put 

 to, except that, if it is designed to build up a herd of Ayrshires, 

 it would be a great misfortune not to begin and breed up to it 

 as soon as possible. 



I cannot too strongly recommend the course I have suggested, 

 that all our public institutions should adopt some one known 

 breed, and stick exclusively to that, keeping only the very best, 

 and breeding it with judgmefit and care. It would be of great 

 public advantage. The farmer who wants to buy an Ayrshire, 

 knows not where to go find one. The same is true, to a great 

 extent, with each of the other prominent breeds, but it would 

 not be desirable for any institution to undertake to keep more 

 than one breed. Let it have the best and improve it to the utmost. 

 The service of male animals might be free, or fixed so low, to 

 surrounding farmers, that they would be willing to comply with 

 reasonable conditions, such as to raise, or cause to be raised, all 

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