202 Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



bull that will sire the highest-producing cows, he will be unable to do 

 so with any degree of certainty by studying their individualities. He 

 may easily eliminate some of them because of lack of constitution, 

 weak masculinity, or because they show a decided tendency towards 

 fleshiness. Having such faults, he is reasonably certain that they will 

 not prove sure breeders, or that their heifer calves will not develop into 

 high producers. Having eliminated certain ones, there will probably 

 be several bulls remaining that have no serious faults in conformation, 

 and among these it is mere guesswork to attempt to select the most 

 successful sire. The beef bull carries his evidence of merit upon his 

 back, but the true value of the dairy bull can be judged only by the 

 kind of cows in his ancestry, the kind of cows he sires, or by both. 

 The judging of dairy bulls in the show ring is much less conducive to 

 good results in the improvement of cattle than is the judging of beef 

 bulls. 



As a general rule, when valuing a purebred animal, more emphasis 

 should be placed upon individuality than upon pedigree; but the dairy 

 bull is an exception. On a basis of 100 points given to the bull's selec- 

 tion, it is conservative to state that 40 points should be allotted to his 

 individuality, and 60 points to the records of performance in his pedi- 

 gree. All purebred dairy bulls have pedigrees, but in many cases no 

 records were kept of the production of their female ancestors; in such 

 cases the pedigree has no special significance, and little importance can 

 be attached to it. When records of performance of the ancestors are 

 available, the bull is said to have a "pedigree with performance," and 

 to such a pedigree much attention should be given when selecting a 

 bull. 



If the bull is matured and has been long enough in service so that 

 he has heifers in milk, they furnish the best evidence of the bull's value 

 as a breeder. In this connection, however, the dams of the heifers 

 must be studied, as the seeming success of the bull may be very largely 

 due to the excellence of the cows with which he is mated. If the dams 

 are inferior and the heifers are good, all the more credit is due the sire. 



A Wisconsin farmer who was about to sell his purebred Guernsey 

 bull to the butcher discovered just in time that the bull was a superior 

 sire. When the records were completed, his daughters had produced 

 an average of 7,886 pounds of milk and 397 pounds of butter-fat, as 

 compared to 5,968 pounds of milk and 292 pounds of butter-fat for 

 their dams. Another Wisconsin farmer did sell his registered Holstein 

 bull to the butcher because he could not use him further without 

 inbreeding, only to discover his mistake later when 11 of the daughters 

 freshened at the ages of 2 and 3 years and made yearly records averag- 

 ing 15,047 pounds of milk and 571 pounds of butter-fat. Commenting 



