CHAPTER 52 

 The Dairy Herd; Its Selection and Improvement 



By F. S. Putney 



Assistant Professor of Dairy Husbandry, The Pennsylvania State College 



The dairy cow of today has been so long domesticated that it is 

 impossible to identify her exact origin. Several possible origins have been 

 written about, but one thing we are sure of is that the original cow gave 

 milk only for her young for a few months. The modern dairy herd is the 

 result of selection and improvement by man. 



Scrubs, Grades, Crosses and Pure-Breds. — A dairy herd which is the 

 result of accident and which has never been improved is called a common 

 or scrub herd. Such a herd usually has the blood of several breeds, but has 

 been bred without thought. Occasionally a scrub dairy cow is profitable, 

 but it is rare indeed to find a scrub herd that is profitable. A large per- 

 centage of the dairy cattle in the country today are high-grades. A grade 

 animal carries over 50 per cent of the blood of some particular breed. The 

 pure-bred sire is now believed to be an essential of a good dairy herd, hence 

 the result is that most of the cows are now high-grade, carrying over 75 

 per cent of the blood of one breed. A cross-bred animal has the blood of 

 two pure-bred animals of different breeds in its veins. Such breeding is 

 good to produce vitality, but is not good for milk production; especially 

 is this true in the crossing of such distinct breeds as the Holstein-Friesian 

 and the Jersey. Comparatively few pure-bred dairy herds exist. However, 

 the number is sufficient to permit of every one owning a pure-bred sire, 

 and the number of pure-bred animals is on the increase. A pure-bred 

 animal does not have the blood of any other breed since the founding of 

 that breed. 



Value of Pedigrees. — A pedigree is a list of the names and registry 

 numbers of the ancestry of an animal. A dairy farmer who keeps pure- 

 bred animals should exercise care in keeping his animals registered in the 

 herd-book of the breed association. This is profitable because pure-bred 

 animals sell better than grade animals, as the offspring are more uniform, 

 especially in type and color. The latter fact adds a great deal to the 

 selling price. Further, the pure-bred dairy animals have been developed 

 to higher milk production than any other class of farm animals and natu- 

 rally the dairyman is willing to pay for their production ability. The more 

 high producing animals in the ancestry of an animal, the better is that 

 pedigree. 



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