DEPKECIATION OF THE DAIRY HERD 113 



careful breeding does not secure continuous prog- 

 ress and one of the most disheartening facts isi that 

 not infrfequently the offspring is inferior to the 

 dam. The man who has heifers of his own breeding 

 in considerable numbers stands the best chance of 

 maintaining a high average excellency. 



It has been noted in an earlier chapter that suc- 

 cess or failure in dairying does not depend on the 

 selection of any particular breed. Both experience 

 and theory indicate that real constructive dairy 

 improvement must come through the use of pure- 

 bred sires and that, having chosen one breed, a 

 stockman must stick to it consecutively through 

 the years. He will soon have a herd of grades, the 

 first cross being commonly stated as one-half 

 pure-bred, the next one as three-fourths pure-bred, 

 and so on. Four or five successive crosses with 

 males of the same breed rapidly reduce the pro- 

 portion of native blood to an insignificant fraction 

 and will result in a herd which in color, size, gen- 

 eral appearance and real dairy usefulness wUl be 

 the equivalent of a registered herd, the main dif- 

 ference being that they can never have their names 

 written in any herd-book nor can they be sold at 

 prices approaching that of registered stock. 



It may be asked whether there is any funda- 

 mental reason other than sentiment for the use 

 of the pure-bred sire rather than the mongrel, that 

 is, the animal of mixed or promiscuous breeding. 

 The whole value of a sire depends on his ability 



