SOME AMERICAN BREEDERS. 285 



Before reaching his majority a large herd of Herefords was added to the 

 stock of the place, but being inferior for dairy purposes, and their value for beef 

 not being then appreciated in this country, the breeding of these cattle did not 

 prove a success and the herd was sold for beef. Fine horses were also extensively 

 bred on the place. As a member of the firm of Powell Bros., he commenced 

 business at a very early age. The brothers all having a natural fondness and 

 cultivated taste for fine animals, it was only natural that the firm should 

 become interested therein, and breeding of blooded horses and cattle soon 

 became an important department of their business. Thus was laid the founda- 

 tion of one of the most noted fine stock establishments in this country. 



In 1868 Mr. Powell was united in marriage to the only daughter of W. 

 Brown Smith of Syracuse, N. Y., and disposing of his interest in Pennsylvania 

 to his brothers, he became a partner in the Syracuse Nurseries and a resident of 

 that city. The live-stock department was then addecl to the nursery business. 

 Jerseys and Shorthorns were both bred, but neither proved satisfactory. About 

 1872 the attention of the firm Smith & Powell was called to the Dutch breed 

 of cattle by Hon. C. B. Sedgwick, upon his return from Europe. 



Some time was spent in investigating the merits of this breed, and in 1875 

 was established the herd now owned by Smiths & Powell Co., which is known 

 to all our readers. 



On the organization of the Holstein Breeders' Association of America, 

 under the charter of the State <ff New York in 1880, Mr. Powell was elected its 

 first president, to which office he was re-elected for four successive years. He 

 has continually taken a deep and active interest in the affairs of the associa- 

 tion. He has ever been progressive and liberal in his ideas regarding the devel- 

 opment of the breed, and enthusiastic regarding its future possibilities. 



In connection with Smiths & Powell Co., of which firm he is a member, he 

 has done much for the development of the breed in the production of both milk 

 and butter, and also in bringing these cattle prominently and favorably before 

 the public. He early advocated a system of breeding for a specific purpose, as 

 the quickest, surest and most progressive means of developing desired qualities 

 and characteristics. Believing that "like would produce like," that if large 

 yields of butter and milk were to be an established fact in the offspring, these 

 qualities must be developed in a long, unbroken line of ancestors, running far 

 back through every channel, by putting these principles into practice at an early 

 date, by breeding only from dams with large records, and using only sires of 

 such breeding. Lakeside Herd now possesses many young animals whose 

 fifteen or twenty nearest female ancestors have butter records which average 

 from 19 to 20 Ibs. of butter in a week, and milk records of from 15,000 to 17,000 

 Ibs. in a year. These facts are mentioned to show what could be accomplished 

 by the persistent, intelligent application of a fundamental principle of breeding. 

 Mr. Powell was one of the earliest advocates of the possibilities of the 

 breed as butter producers. The system of careful weekly butter tests, which 

 has been the means of bringing the breed up to its present standard, was 

 first begun on a liberal scale, in Lakeside herd, in 1879, when Netherland 

 Queen, Maid of Purmer, Holland Beauty, Neilson, Aegis, Juniata, etc., were 

 carefully tested. Prior to this only occasionally single cows of the breed had 

 been tested. 



It was during this year that, by careful tests, by ascertaining the amount 

 of milk required to make a pound of butter, when fresh, and near the close of 

 the season, and the amount of milk given during the year, it was shown by a 

 careful estimate that Maid of Purmer could have made 400 Ibs., and Netherland 

 Queen 888 Ibs., of butter during the year, both being two years old. Commenc- 

 ing in 1879 a large number of cows have each year been tested at Lakeside, and 

 the result is generally known to all breeders. 



Mr. Powell was, as far as records in our possession indicate, the first to pub- 

 licly announce his belief that this breed could be made to equal any other breed 

 for the production of butter. 



In his annual address to the Holstein Breeders' Association in March, 1883, 

 he said : " From all the information and data at command I am confident that 

 the general average of Holsteins for butter will fully equal that of any other 

 breed. With proper encouragement from this association, and continued efforts 

 on the part of all its members, records comparing favorably with the highest 

 made by any other breed will, in my judgment, soon be attained." He proba- 

 bly had no idea that this prediction would soon be fully verified. 



