BREEDS OF COWS ; VIEWS ON THE BUILDING UP OF 

 A DAIRY HERD. 



BY PROF. S. M. TRACY, FORMERLY DIRECTOR MISSISSIPPI 

 AGRICULTURAL, EXPERIMENT STATION. 



Biloxi, Mss. 



The article that follows is a brief review of the qualities of the leading 

 breeds of dairy cattle and suggestions in regard to herd management, 

 comprising a part of farmers' bulletin No. 151, recently issued by the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. Its writer and purpose are well set 

 forth in this paragraph recommending its publication by the bureau: 



"The bulletin was prepared by Prof. S. M. Tracy, formerly director 

 of the Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station, as the result of twenty 

 years' residence, experience and observation in Mississippi, with particular 

 reference to Southern conditions and needs. The aim has been to give 

 simple directions for the encouragement and information of those to whom 

 the care of cows and their products is comparatively new, as is the case in 

 the region for which the bulletin has been specially prepared." 



While the report as a whole has special reference to dairying in the 

 southern states, the selection that is here given has its field of application 

 everywhere, and is full of helpful, practical suggestions to every reader. 



The illustrations with this article show splendid types of Ayrshire, 

 Devon, Holstein, Brown Swiss and Dutch Belted cows, while numerous 

 views of noted cows of all prominent breeds appear in the experiment 

 station reports elsewhere notable examples of what has been accom- 

 plished up to the moment, and the best of guides for the dairying 1 

 the higher order of dairying of the future: 



BREEDS OF COWS. 



The best cow for any dairy is the one which will give the greatest 

 profit. To which one of the so-called dairy breeds this cow will belong de- 

 pends on the location, the character of the pastures, the care given to the 

 herd, and whether the product to be marketed is milk, butter or cheese. 

 The dairyman who depends wholly on the sale of milk may find it more 

 profitable to keep a different breed from the one he would select were he 

 making butter or cheese, while, if he wishes to produce beef and also a 



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