166 DAIRY CATTLE AND MILK PRODUCTION 



The best means of becoming familiar with the leading lines 

 of breeding in any breed is by reading the breed papers and 

 studying sale catalogues and advertisements. 



In buying a bull of any age, it should be required that he 

 have a good conformation, strong vitality and constitution, 

 and good breed characteristics. In buying a young bull the 

 choice should fall upon one from a cow medium to large for 

 the breed. She should be a regular breeder, and a cow of 

 strong constitution and vitality. She should have a well- 

 developed, symmetrical udder and teats, and a large year's 

 milk and butter test, preferably official. While most dairy- 

 men favor the selection of a young bull as a herd bull, there 

 always is the uncertainty about how he will transmit the 

 dairy characteristics as pointed out. 



A Tested Bull. By all means the best plan of selecting 

 a bull is to get one that has sired daughters of merit and 

 showed himself to be the exceptional animal wanted by every 

 breeder. The most skilled breeders are always on the out- 

 look for such animals; but many are never discovered, and 

 many others only after it is too late. Whenever possible, it 

 is always advisable to retain an old bull until the results of his 

 breeding can be ascertained. Then, if not satisfactory, the 

 sooner he is gone the better; but there is always a chance of 

 finding a bull like Missouri Rioter 3d, previously mentioned. 



The wonderful prepotency of Stoke Pogis 3d was not recog- 

 nized until after he had been sold for beef. Hengerveld De 

 Kol, a well-known Holstein bull, on the other hand, was 

 retained until it was discovered he was one of the great bulls 

 of the breed, and continued in service until at present he stands 

 first in the breed as the sire of tested daughters. 



It is probable that in the future it will be more and more 



