22 DAIRY FARMING 



mission. Where animals of great extremes of size, con- 

 formation, function, disposition, or nervous organization, 

 are mated, somewhat the same results may be looked for 

 that are obtained in crossing animals of different breeds. 

 Mating animals of highly dissimilar characteristics is 

 spoken of as violent mating and should be avoided. 

 Where there is much similarity in the parents there is 

 usually a satisfactory transmission of qualities and the 

 mating is often referred to as good "nicking." 



II. STARTING THE HERD. 



Grade Cows and Pure=bred Sires. With the average 

 farmer, the cheapest and most satisfactory way of start- 

 ing a dairy herd is to select as foundation stock good 

 grade cows and a pure-bred bull of one of the strictly 

 dairy breeds. The grading up will be most rapid when 

 the predominant blood in the grades corresponds with the 

 blood of the sire. 



A foundation of this kind, of course, does not produce 

 stock that can be registered, but by continuing the use of 

 good, pure-bred bulls of the same blood, stock is soon 

 obtained which, so far as milk and butter production is 

 concerned, very closely approaches in value that of pure 

 breeding. 



Pure=Bred Cows and Sires. To start with a pure- 

 bred herd is practically beyond the means of the ma- 

 jority of farmers. Furthermore, there is an objection 

 to placing well-cared-for, pure-bred cows under aver- 

 age conditions as to feed, care, and management, be- 

 cause under any such change the attainment of satis- 

 factory results would be practically impossible. Where 

 there is a gradual infusion of pure blood, as in the 

 case of grading up a herd with pure-bred sires the 



