24 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



category of the old, old story : you will never get anywhere 

 without the right kind of blood. We must get pure-bred 

 sires of good quality! 



I have got a sale bill in my grip, running something like 

 this : "I have decided to quit farming and offer for sale the 

 following described properties," etc. I looked down the 

 bill, and, evidently, this man was a dairyman. He had nine 

 cows, with descriptions somewhat as follows: "One black 

 and white, one red and white, one yellow and white, one 

 roan," and so on down the line. And then he had the 

 nerve to say he had decided to quit business. He never 

 decided to quit anything — it was decided for him. (Laugh- 

 ter). 



You can see those kind of cows around everywhere. 

 Let me tell you something — that farmer knows better than 

 that. He can't afford to owm a pure-bred dairy sire. I am 

 telling you the facts. If you buy a bull worthy of the name, 

 one capable of producing an increase in your grade cows, 

 and pay the breeder the cost, you cannot afford to own him. 

 I have seen one fellow go out of business for no other reason 

 than that he bought too many bulls. He had over $5,000 

 tied up in Jersey bulls and it broke him, because he couldn't 

 afford to own them. You buy a bull from Mr. O'Hair here 

 and I don't think he would take less than $100 or $150 for 

 him. He couldn't afford to do it for less than that. You 

 will find that your service fee for heifer calves will cost you 

 somewhere from $10 to $25 apiece. 



I repeat again that the average farmer cannot afford 

 to own a pure-bred sire unless somebody gives it to him, 

 and the sooner we realize it the better it is going to be for 

 the farmer. How are you going to remedy the situation? 

 The only way to do it is by having three or four men get 

 together and own the sire. You say it can't be done. Then, 

 if you say it can't be done, it can't. But I know it can be 

 done. 



We must have good sires, because we want our off- 

 spring to be worth something. 



You may be interested to know that in communities 

 where there are cow testing associations, they are quoting 



