THE SELECTION OF A SIRE. 225 



The bull of course cannot show the dairy type in the same degree as the 

 cow, nevertheless it is possible that he may have it clearly marked. He may 

 have a decidedly cowy look. He should also have a distinctly vigorous and 

 masculine appearance. The two are not inconsistent. The one is a matter of 

 form chiefly, the other a matter of spirit and bearing. 



Every breeder has to do with tendencies. Like tends to beget like. Varia- 

 tions in one generation tend to perpetuate themselves. There is also the ten- 

 dency, in an artificially created type, like the types of our domestic animals, 

 to revert to the original type. Our large dairy producers have been created by 

 breeders taking advantage of variations in that direction for scores of years. 

 The original type was of course a small producer of dairy products and there 

 is always a possibilitj' of reversion to that type. The farther we get from the 

 original type the smaller the probability or possibility of reversion. Hence the 

 value of the pedigree, hence the prepotency of a well bred animal. A well 

 bred animal is simply one in which the tendency to revert to any other type 

 than the one desired has by a long course of careful selection been thoroughly 

 bred out. We believe also that there can be no question but that a particular 

 type can be more firmly fixed by close inbreeding than by any other method. 

 The difficulty is that undesirable qualities can be firmly fixed in the same way 

 just as easily as the desirable ones. 



The fundamental principle, then, is, fix in your own mind the type towards 

 which you wish to breed, then select as your service bull the animal which 

 embodies in himself and through a long line of ancestry the qualities desired 

 in the highest possible degree. 



S. Burchard, Hamilton, N. Y.: 



" Because we cannot immediately figure out the records that the bull makes 

 (for they must necessarily be second-hand), he is no less the most important 

 animal in the herd. His qualities of excellence or worthlessness are trans- 

 mitted to every animal that is bred in the herd (unless counteracted by the cow 

 with which he is coupled), and are as fixedly stamped upon his progeny as the 

 eagle is stamped upon the coin at the mint. In my boyhood my father obtained 

 a Shorthorn bull from the Clay stock of Kentucky. He was of the milking 

 strain of Shorthorns, and had the appearance of a very fine and vigorous 

 animal. He was patronized by the farmers for miles around, and was so pre- 

 potent that he stamped his qualities of form, style and milk development upon 

 all of his progeny. All of his daughters were superior milkers. About twenty 

 of them were milked in my father's dairy and I have never seen anything that 

 could compare with them, until I came into contact with the black-and-whites. 

 This experience taught in my early life that the bull that is well-bred through 

 a long line of ancestors, possessing a milk development of the highest order, 

 and the power of transmitting his qualities to his descendants, is the only safe 

 bull to be used in a well ordered herd. The bull may be of the finest style and 

 be possessed of the highest order of milk development, yet it will be impossible 

 for him to be a transmitter of his qualities, unless he is endowed with a high 

 order of nervous energy. This force is something that we cannot explain, but 

 still we know that it exists, and we would compare it in the animal kingdom 

 to electricity in the natural world. Like the lightning in the cloud, it is subtly 

 lurking in the system, and when certain conditions occur, it is ready to flash 

 forth and perform its mission. It is this subtle power that enables the horse to 

 trot his mile in 2.30 or better, and it is the same power that enables men to per- 

 form business, military and political actions that astonish the world. It always 

 has been and ever will be a potent factor in producing the phenomenal records of 

 horses and cows and men. To be able to detect this power is an important part 

 of the education of the breeder. The most prominent indication of the nervous 

 force element in the bull or the cow is what we call the double chine. In this 

 the points of the vertebrae stand well apart, forming an open space between in 

 which the ends of the fingers may be easily inserted. This indicates a strong 

 spinal cord connecting directly with the brain on one hand, and with every 

 nerve in the system on the other. This, in connection with a prominent, sprightly 

 eye, showing plainly what is called the white of the eye, a mellow, silky skin, 

 and a conformation showing strength and vigor, are the main points to be con- 

 sidered. The law that like begets like has resulted in many failures and much 

 disappointment, but the bull possessing nervous force in a high degree will 

 rarely fail in stamping his qualifications upon his progeny. When such a bull 



