140 STARTING A DAIRY HERD 



wisest, and in the long run most economical, to purcliase a high 

 gTade bull, not any high grade, but one which shows the breed 

 characteristics strongly, has individual vigor and constitution 

 and is from a high-producing dam. The fact that cows with 

 which he is to be mated can never produce stock for registration 

 makes it entirely immaterial whether the sire has " papers " or 

 not. The use of a grade sire is not recommended on cows of 

 higher development and not where pure animals may be pur- 

 chased at reasonable figures. Frequently second-hand, pure bred 

 bulls may be purchased at beef prices. Young animals, especially 

 of the Guernsey breed, are occasionally sold cheaply because of 

 having a " smoky " frill about the muzzle, or having more or 

 less dark hairs about the head and throat. This is supposed to 

 indicate partial reversion to some prehistoric ancestor and since 

 it is not the color desired in the modern breed such animals do not 

 become show animals themselves, nor are they likely to produce 

 such. Some of the strongest working blood of the breed, how- 

 ever, are characterized by this off-color. Farmers desiring pure 

 Guernsey stock to work upon a grade herd will do well to look for 

 such animals. Pure bred ITolstein bulls are occasionally pure 

 white and can therefore not be registered. Such would mate 

 well with a herd of red and white grades. 



It is agreed that the points to be looked for in selecting an 

 animal are constitution, thrift, masculinity, and trueness to 

 breed type, or in other words the individuality of the animal 

 (Fig. 55). The next point, one which some breeders would 

 put first, is the matter of record or power of performance on the 

 part of the dam and granddam, and as many other generations 

 back of this as possible. Such an animal then in addition to 

 having the prepotency of pure blood will havQ the strong individ- 

 uality, or what may be termed personality, which will increase 

 the likelihood that his daughters will resemble his mother and 

 grandmother in ability to produce abundantly. A goodly num- 

 ber of instances are on record indicating that some sires have 

 possessed such wonderful prepotency as to have almost unlimited 

 value, while other animals have done positive harm under the 

 same or similar conditions. 



