272 LIVE STOCK IMPROVEMENT 



the entire month. From the data thus obtained the 

 farmer is able to judge the profitable and unprofitable 

 cows in his herd. This makes it possible for him to im- 

 prove his herd systematically. It is nOt necessary . that 

 the COWS be pure-bred or that they belong to any particular 

 breed of cattle. The work is educational, and the re- 

 sults obtained by the different associations have done 

 much to improve dairying. 



Subsidizing Sires. — Great improvement in the horse 

 industry has been made in France and Belgium especially 

 by subsidizing the good sires. If a stallion is especially 

 good, the government pays the owner a bonus so that it 

 will be to his interest to keep the animal in the country, 

 otherwise the best horses would be exported. By this 

 arrangement the standard of the horses of those countries 

 is kept high. A similar plan is worked out in Ireland. 

 The goverrmient owns good sires and places them in cer- 

 tain communities. At the Agricultural College at Glas- 

 nevin fine herds of cattle and hogs are maintained. The 

 young sires produced here are sold to the good breeders 

 at a price that is much less than the real commercial value 

 of the animal. The breeder must agree to return the animal 

 when its period of usefulness on that farm is over. These 

 methods are working incalculable good in Great Britain 

 and other European countries. 



Other plans for improving live stock are in use in this 

 country. Breeders' associations in certain localities have 

 done much good. Associated effort makes it possible for 

 the small breeder to get his stock before the public more 

 effectively than he can alone. Prospective purchasers 

 would rather go into a community to purchase than to go 

 to any one breeder, because if there are several breeders 



