PROFIT FROM THE- DAIRY 121 



usually demands cows of a pronounced dairy type. 

 Such breeds as the Jerseys, Guernseys and Hol- 

 steins, which have been bred for hundreds of years 

 exclusively for dairy purposes, are unquestionably 

 the most profitable animals to keep for this pur- 

 pose. A great many farmers say that for any type 

 of dairying the dairy breeds are the only profitable 

 type of cows to keep. On the other hand, in the 

 middle western country, there are thousands of 

 farmers whose circumstances demand that the fin- 

 ishing of live stock shall constitute the leading fea- 

 ture of their farm practice. They have a good deal 

 of pasture, and their farms produce enormous 

 amounts of forage and grain. These they do not 

 wish to sell in the market because of considerations 

 relating to soil fertility. For various reasons, chief 

 among them the increasingly perplexing proposi- 

 tion of farm labor, they are unable or unwilling to 

 change their type of farming to exclusive dairying. 

 Yet, upon their high-priced land, they do not think 

 that they are Justified in keeping large numbers of 

 breeding cattle merely for the production of calves. 

 These conditions place them under the necessity 

 of keeping a type of animals from which reasonable 

 returns can be realized in dairy operations, and 

 which will also produce a type of offspring 

 well suited to being fattened for beef. These con- 

 ditions have given rise to a strong demand on the 

 part of many American farmers, for a dual purpose 

 type of cattle. The so-called dual purpose breeds 

 are Red Polls, the milking Shorthorn, the Brown 

 Swiss and the Devon. Of these, the milking Short- 

 horn and Red Poll are most common upon American 

 farms, and it is probable that the milking strains 

 of Shorthorns are by far the most popular. These 

 cattle produce calves of very good beef type. 



