CHAPTER XIII 

 SELECTION OF THE HERD BULL 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT 



IT has long been an axiom of the breeder that the sire is 

 half the herd, and it is generally accepted as a fit expression 

 of an important rule. The skillful breeder of any kind of 

 stock does not need to have it pointed out to him how im- 

 portant it is that the sire be properly selected. If he is a 

 skillful breeder, it is largely because he realizes the import- 

 ance of the sire and knows how to select him. While the 

 skilled breeder realizes the importance of this in breeding, 

 the average dairyman does not give the question of the 

 selection of the sire one tenth the attention the importance 

 of the question demands. Thousands of men make use of 

 a scrub or grade sire on account of mistaken economy in cost, 

 rather than pay a few dollars more for an animal that is 

 almost certain to transmit desirable qualities. 



First of all, the bull selected should be a pure-bred of the 

 breed to which the cows belong, or, in case grading up is to 

 be done, of the breed selected as best suiting the purpose. 

 It is easily understood that a bull whose ancestors have been 

 bred for many generations for one purpose is more certain 

 to transmit that character than one whose ancestry is mixed. 

 As already pointed out, the dairy cow of to-day has been 



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