154 Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



nearly purebred that further improvement by grading is no longer 

 possible. When that stage is reached the breeder may secure further 

 improvement only as the breeder of purebred cattle secures it, namely, 

 by careful selection. This requires not only ability to judge beef cattle, 

 but it requires also careful study of the herd in order that the best 

 producers may be selected or retained, and the inferior and less useful 

 ones eliminated. It is more difficult to maintain a high average of 

 type and production in a herd than it is to develop a good herd from a 

 scrub herd by grading. 



Community and cooperative breeding. — Organization of the stock- 

 men and farmers of a community to use the same breed and to exchange 

 sires makes possible to owners of small herds a succession of good sires 

 at moderate cost. Small breeders may cooperate in buying bulls, and 

 by exchange of bulls may retain the most successful sires in service 

 in the community. Ordinarily a bull cannot be kept in a small herd 

 more than two or three years because his daughters are used in the 

 herd. Communities which have a large number of good herds of the 

 same breed attract buyers who desire a few high-class purebreds or a 

 carload of high grades. In some instances sales are made over a wide 

 territory. Cooperation along these lines within a community is highly 

 desirable in many ways, but unfortunately it is the exception in this 

 country rather than the rule. ^- 



The bull is at least half of the herd.V^Herd bulls should be selected 

 with great care. It is often said that "the bull is half the herd," and 

 someone has added the equally true statement that "an inferior bull 

 is all of the herd." The U. S. Department of Agriculture estimates 

 that there are nearly 250,000 farms producing beef cattle which use 

 grade and scrub bulls. ' In breeding all kinds of farm live stock we 

 expect the offspring to be better than the dam, and we rely upon the 

 sire to bring about this improvement. In breeding beef cattle for the 

 market, it is well to have good cows, but it is an absolute essential to 

 have a good bull. We pin our hopes on him. He must be a good 

 individual, he must be purebred, and he should come from a good line 

 of ancestry. These three points are guarantees as to his breeding 

 ability. 



One of the most notable examples of the value of purebred bulls 

 as herd improvers is that afforded by the history of cattle breeding on 

 western ranges. Beginning with the old Texas long-horn stock which 

 formed the foundation of range herds, successive crosses of purebred 

 sires brought remarkable improvement in the beef-making qualities of 

 western cattle. (See Fig. 49 and compare with Fig. 30 in preceding 

 chapter.) 



lU. S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook, 1921, p. 240. 



