102 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



low-producing cows. Not only that, but the owner of the 

 smaller herd would have $346 more to spend each year on 

 necessities or on luxuries. Why anyone will milk and care 

 for 14 poor cows when by joining a bull association he can 

 breed up a herd of better cows is difficult to understand. 



Bull Association Keeps the Best 



Through the system of transferring bulls from block 

 to block, as will be explained under the next heading, the 

 bull association makes it possible to keep all the bulls until 

 their daughters have made records and until the records of 

 dams and daughters have been compared. That system 

 makes it possible to keep all the proved bulls as long as 

 they live or are fit for service. 



The well-managed bull association not only keeps the 

 good bulls, but it culls the bad. No intelligent farmer would 

 plant inferior seed corn if good seed were available; neither 

 would he knowingly use a bull that would lower the pro- 

 duction of his dairy herd. Until recently no simple, practical 

 method was used by which bulls are tested for their ability 

 to transmit high production to unselected daughters. Now 

 there is no excuse for not thus testing the sires that head 

 our dairy herds. 



How to Organize 



If the dairymen of any community desire to organize 

 a bull association they should obtain from their county 

 agent, their State agricultural college, and the United States 

 Department of Agriculture all the available literature on 

 the subject, including copies of the constitution and by-laws 

 in use in well-organized bull associations. After getting 

 all the information possible on the subject of bull asso- 

 ciations, they should consult with the county agent and the 

 dairy extension field men from the State agricultural col- 

 lege regarding the details of organization and a canvass 

 for membership. 



If the membership canvass shows that an association 

 can be organized in the community, a meeting of those inter- 



