18 

 KEEPING UP THE HEED. 



The breed having been decided upon, the method of maintaining 

 the herd at a certain standard of efficiency or of increasing its milk-, 

 producing capacity must next be considered. There are three methods 

 commonly followed in Canada. 



1. Buying springers, or new-calved cows from time to time as 

 required and either selling when dry, or breeding to any bull 

 available, the calves being slaughtered at birth or vealod as convenient. 

 This line is the one commonly followed by farmers or milkmen 

 shipping milk to cities. It is a method no farmer should consider 

 for a minute. 



2. Starting with any grades available and iieing a good pure 

 bred bull of the breed chosen as being most to the liking or best 

 suited to the requirements of the farmer, is the second method and, 

 with modifications, the one most to be recommended to the average 

 farmer. It permits of the upbuilding of a highly profitable herd 

 from the producer's standpoint. The writer has known many herds 

 in Canada built up in this way where the returns ran from $75 to 

 $150 per cow in herds of from 10 to 100. This method is open to 

 the objection that male calves must go as vealers and that females 

 are not as valuable as they would be if pure bred. Of course, when 

 starting with a grade female, no number of crosses of pure bred sires 

 would ever enable a man to register any of his calves. The advantage 

 lies in the very searching selection it is possible to make in raising 

 calves, since calves from poor cows need never be kept and inferior 

 cows are not likely to be retained in the herd for any length of time 

 as the temptation of fictitious pedigree values is eliminated. Where 

 it is desired ultimately to get into pure bred cattle, a good plan is 

 to start with a herd largely grades and invest in one or two extra 

 good females as well as a bull of the breed desired. The pure breds 

 proving to be really good individuals, the calves can then be raised 

 and in a short time a herd of p-uire breds of the breed favoured is 

 gradually driving the grades from the stable. 



3. Where considerable capital is available, and experience in 

 breeding and feeding is part of the owner's equipment or where some 

 other circumstance makes success highly probable, even the beginning 

 of operations in milk production might be made with pure breds. In 

 guch a case, it will usually be found advisable to start with a few 



