410 The Feeding of Animals 



When the chief consideration is the manufacture 

 of milk solids most economically, we must deal not so 

 much with breeds as with individuals. In fact, with 

 all breeds and with animals of no breed, individual 

 capacity is the consideration fundamental to profitable 

 feeding. Some Holsteins will return both more milk 

 and more butter for a unit of food cost than will some 

 Jerseys, and the reverse is equally true. There is no 

 magic in heredity which overcomes lack of capacity 

 either for the breeder or for the dairyman. 



The "general -purpose" cow has been much dis- 

 cussed in recent years. While her specifications have 

 never been fully and clearly set forth, it is supposed 

 that she is an animal reasonably profitable along both 

 beef and milk lines. It is doubtful whether such a 

 cow, even if she exists, is one adapted to general utility. 

 There are few localities where milk is not more profit- 

 able than beef or beef more profitable than milk, and 

 whichever is the more profitable should be produced 

 by an animal of specialized capacity. Any extra value 

 which the calves' and the cow's carcass may have when 

 flesh -forming tendencies are prominent, will generally 

 come far short of compensating for a merely mediocre 

 milk yield in those localities where there is a market 

 for milk and its products; and the stockman who is 

 endeavoring to put on the market beef animals of the 

 highest quality cannot afford to compromise with dairy 

 qualities. Milk formation and flesh formation are an- 

 tagonistic, and not correlated, functions, both of which 

 do not operate intensely in the same individual. At 

 present we have no breed or fixed type of animals 



