SELECTION OF THE BULL 139 



The Jersey cow, if well handled, will produce butter fat more 

 cheaply per pound than any other breed in America, but being 

 sensitive to treatment and best adapted to a moderate climate she 

 requires comfortable housing. When such is provided, how- 

 ever, the Jersey may be kept in any agricultural region. 



The Holstein cow ordinarily yields more fat and a much 

 greater amount of skim milk. While it is true that the cost 

 of producing a pound of fat is higher than with the breeds yield- 

 ing a richer milk, it is likewise true that the skim milk has high 

 value on the livestock farm. The animals of this breed are 

 rather better adapted to withstand the conditions practically 

 certain to obtain on farms where the field operations are of first 

 consideration. The Holstein animals work in exceedingly well 

 on those farms which produce grain and hogs as well as cream 

 or butter for the market. 



The Guernsey and Ayrshire breeds have their peculiarities, 

 as explained in the chapters on those breeds, and which fit them 

 for particular niches. The temperament and sentiment of the 

 individual farmer certainly are of importance in the choice of a 

 breed, but in the opinion of the writer these more or less 

 sentimental facts should be subordinated to the adaptability of 

 the breed to the climate, to the type of dairying to be carried on, 

 and in practice to the majority sentiment, of the neighborhood. 

 It is being everywhere clearly demonstrated that animals of all 

 breeds have developed not only greater individual qualities in 

 those communities where a goodly number of that breed is kept, 

 but that they also have greater market value per unit of quality. 

 The individual cows of a Holstein herd, for instance, located in 

 a Jersey neighborhood would not have the market value that the 

 same animal would if surrounded by animals of their own breed. 

 The same is true of all the other dairy breeds when too 

 widely scattered. 



Selection of the Bull. — In starting a herd of working dairy 

 cows there is probably no single problem of greater importance, 

 nor one which offers greater difficulties, than the correct selec- 

 tion of the herd bull. With a herd of low-producing animals in 

 the hands of an owner of limited means, it is not infrequently 



