4 



202 ILLINOIS STATS] DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



Breeds of dairy cattle should never be crossed. The 

 present breeds of dairy cattle are the result of many years 

 of intelligent breeding along definite lines. By this method 

 breeders have developed certain valuable characteristics 

 which are transmitted when animals of the same breed are 

 mated. When two animals of different breeds are crossed, 

 the characteristics of both breeds are so mixed that they 

 are not passed on to future generations with any degree of 

 certainty. 



A purebred sire should always be used. The bull is 

 the sire of all the calves in a herd, therefore his influence 

 will be multiplied a great many times faster than that of 

 any one cow. The better the bull, the better the future herd 

 will be. 



Purebred cattle on the average produce more than 

 grades. A tabulation of 17,405 yearly records of cow-test- ; 

 ing association cows, made by the Bureau of Dairying of ; 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, shows the 

 relative production of purebreds and grades. Table 1 gives 

 the results of this study. 



Table 1. — Comparative Production of Purebred and Grade Cows 



Purebreds Grades 



Number of records 2,919 14,486 



Average pounds of milk 7,182 6,261 ; 



Average pounds of butterfat 288 258 J 



The purebred cattle excelled the grades by almost 

 1,000 pounds of milk and 30 pounds of butterfat. All these 

 cows were in cowtesting associations and probably received 

 much the same care and management. However, purity of 

 breeding does not always insure greater or more economical 

 production. There are many herds of carefully selected 

 grade cows that produce as well as or better than many 

 purebreds of the same breed. Over 90 per cent of the 

 dairy products of this country are produced by grade cows, 

 and this will continue to be the case for many years to 

 come. However, it is the blood of the purebred in our 

 grade cows that makes them the high producers they are. 



