No. 4.] BREEDING, ETC., DAIRY CATTLE. 87 



eight years I was enabled to increase the dairy product of 

 my herd SdVs per cent, and to increase the price of that 

 product as well. One breeder in Connecticut has sold $10,- 

 000 worth of stock during the last year from a farm of 150 

 acres. ISTow, my boy,- if you go at this business right and 

 select a good woman as your partner (using the greatest pre- 

 caution in her selection, for you will never make a more im- 

 portant one), you may be assured of a just return for your 

 labor. The New England dairymen who are raising regis- 

 tered cattle as a part of their dairy enterprise are the only 

 dairymen in New England that are receiving the profit that 

 they should from their business. 



If a young man and his wise counsellor are about to make 

 their first investment in registered dairy stock, how shall it 

 be done ? If the education that 1 have outlined has been 

 neglected, then they are poorly equipped for this task. The 

 prime requisite in a breeding herd is a good bull ; and great 

 bulls are sons of great mothers. So the buyer must know 

 the mother, and if possible the grand dams; and much care 

 should be given in studying these matrons. Skill in select- 

 ing good dairy cows can be acquired by any New England 

 boy of a good common school education who will put his 

 best energies into the work. Selection of the bull is the 

 greatest factor in building up the dairy herd; but the judg- 

 ing of the dam of the bull must precede the examination of 

 the bull himself. 



The best method of studying the dairy cow is to study the 

 cow herself. Get a thorough understanding of the score 

 card ; get a course in an agricultural college if possible ; get 

 all the help you can from dairy papers, bulletins and books 

 on breeding ; but with all your getting, get a thorough knowl- 

 edge of that particular cow. Study a good cow at every op- 

 portunity, and if the opportunity does not present itself 

 often enough, make opportunities by visiting the best herds 

 in the country. This must be field work. Any discussion 

 of the subject can only be suggestive. 



This afternoon we will briefly touch upon five points : the 

 indications of constitution, of capacity, of nervous tempera- 

 ment, of blood circulation and of ability to produce. Con- 



