34 



The problem of securing the better grade of cows is for the 

 breeder to solve, and both he and the dairyman who buys his cows 

 all ready for business are too indifferent to the advantages of the 

 better class for their own best interests. I believe that the most 

 serious defect in the present breeding practice is lack of judicious 

 care in the selection of the bull. It is in the sire that we look for 

 superior qualities, and through him that we ought to expect im- 

 provemeut. It is well enough to select good cows for rearing 

 heifers, but whether their progeny is inferior, equal or superior to 

 themselves, depends on the sire. All too often the heifer is inferior 

 to her dam because got by an inferior bull. This fact is not given 

 the prominence it deserves, and even the use of pure-bred sires is 

 not sufficient ; for, unless the pure-bred bull inherits dairy qualities 

 of superior order, he has no power to transmit such qualities, even 

 though his blood be blue as the ocean and his pedigree long as the 

 moral law. I would emphasize first the necessity of quality and 

 inherited merit, afterwards the desirability of pure breeding and 

 uniformity. Breeders should take more pains to secure only first- 

 class bulls, and cow buyers should discriminate more sharply 

 against offerings not up to standard quality. 



Perennial Dairying. 



Another phase which dairying has assumed in recent years is 

 that of continued production throughout the year. Formerly sum- 

 mer dairying was prevalent, as it is now in the more remote 

 localities where pasturage is good. In Berkshire County, Ver- 

 mont, northern New York, and much of the northern Mississippi 

 valle}^ the summer dairy product far exceeds that of the winter 

 months. In olden times this was doubtless the best practice, if 

 not indeed the only possible one. It was nature's plan, and hus- 

 bandmen had not yet learned how to make artificial conditions 

 enough like summer nature to secure a winter milk flow of com- 

 mercial consequence. Moreover, the demand for dairy products, 

 as well as means of transportation, favored summer dairying. 



A great change has been witnessed in the dairy season in the 

 last few decades. Large sections where formerly only summer 

 dairies were kept now make winter the principal season for prose- 

 cuting this business. In some instances this amounts to entire 

 suspeusion of dairying during the summer months. The Connect- 

 icut valley is a notable example of this transition. Here, on many 

 farms where large winter dairies are kept, the number of cows is 

 reduced to the minimum in summer, to allow the farmer the time 

 needed for tillage operations and work on special crops, such as 



