290 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



of fat. Eight-ounce round glass bottles, with ground-glass stoi^pers 

 are excellent for keeping composite test samples; they are inexpensive 

 and may be obtained from chemical supply houses. Lightning fruit 

 jars are sometimes used for the same purpose. It is desirable to test at 

 least one week in each month, and if a continual weekly composite test 

 is made, it will, of course, be more accurate. Fairly good results can 

 be obtained, however, if a carefully taken sample is tested once or 

 twice a month. A hand machine and glassware for making the Bab- 

 cock test may be obtained for less than $10, and its operation is not 

 difficult, although care in the manipulation of the test is demanded if 

 accurate results are desired. 



The scales and the Babcock test are the factors that should carry 

 the most weight in judging our dairy herds. Function, not form, is or 

 should be the chief consideration. What can the animal do? is much 

 more important to the practical dairyman than whether the form, 

 the color or the tilt of the horns conform to the requirements of a 

 breed score card. These requirements are often desirable and add to 

 the value of an animal, but it should always be kept in mind that per- 

 formance is the main thing. Prof. Eugene Davenport, whose opinion 

 and advice on the subject of animal breeding deserves the most careful 

 consideration, writes as follows in Vol. III. of the "CycloiJcdia of 

 American Agriculture," recently published: — 



Form is striking because it appeals directly to the eye, but it has been greatly 

 overemphasized, not only as the direct object of breeding but also as an index 

 of quality, for all studies yet made indicate that the correlation between form 

 and function is in most cases far less than was hitherto supposed. The indi- 

 vidual as a whole has occupied too much attention in the mind of the breeder. 

 The single character is the real object of thought and selection in all successful 

 breeding operations; it is the real unit of study in all problems of heredity, 

 and the actual basis of operation in all cases of variability. The individual is 

 but a single instance of the many patterns that may be cast out of the various 

 characters that belong to the race, and he is not to be taken too seriously. 

 The dominant characters of the race and their correlations, — this is the great 

 question in all the problems of the breeder and in all efforts at further im- 

 provement. 



Another early step in the improvement of any herd or flock, and a 

 step that should be taken at once by many New England breeders, is 

 the purchase of a pure-bred sire from record-making ancestry. It is 

 an old saying that the sire is half the herd. Few dairymen can afford 

 all pure-bred females, at least in starting a herd, but none should be 

 without a pure-bred bull, whose near ancestors show marked excellence 

 along the lines it is desired to breed for. The use of such an animal 

 with those females that show the best results when judged by the 

 scales and the Babcock test, as just described, and the raising of the 

 heifer calves, will lay the foundations of a herd that, while capable of 

 continual improvement, the owner need not be ashamed of. Such a 

 course of action will, it is believed, in many cases i)rove safer and 



