FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION 231 



The history of the co-operative bull •association shows that 

 it is especially adapted to small herds where a valuable bull 

 tor each herd would constitute too large a percentage of the 

 total in^•estment. Thus the organization enables even the own- 

 ers of small herds to unite in the purchase of one good bull and 

 each to ow^i a share in a registered sire of high quality. Thougli 

 still in its infancy, the co-operative bull association movement 

 promises eventually to become a very great factor in the im- 

 provement of our dairy cattle. 



Better and Fewer Bulls 



The typical co-operative bull association, as organized in 

 this country, is composed of 15 to 30 farmers, and jonitly owns 

 5 bulls, divides its territory into 5 "breeding blocks," and assigns 

 I bull to each block. As many as 50 or 60 cows may belong to 

 the farmers in each block, and the bull in the block shoula be 

 kept on a farm conveniently situated. The blocks are num.bered 

 from I to 5, and to prevent inbreeding each bull is moved to 

 the next block every 2 years. If all the bulls live, and if all are 

 kept until each has made one complete circuit, no new bulls need 

 be purchased for 10 years. In this way, by paying only a small 

 part of the purchase price of one bull, each member of the 

 association has the use of good pure-bred bulls for many years. 

 Ordinarily the purchase price and the expense of supporting the 

 bulls are distributed among the members of the association ac- 

 cording to the number of cows owned by each. 



A concrete example of a successful association is the Co- 

 operative Holstein Bull Association at Roland, Iowa (fig. i), 

 which is composed of 16 farmers and is organized into 5 blocks. 

 The farms are so situated that the bulls are at no great distance 

 from the farm of any member. Before the association was 

 formed each farmer had an average investment of $92 in a scrub 

 bull. These bulls were disposed of when the association was 

 formed and 5 pure-bred bulls were bought at $240 each, or an 

 average of $75 for each member. A larger membership would 

 reduce expenses still further. As in other associations, the 

 Roland farmers united in the use of one breed and selected good 

 bulls of that breed. 



An advanced step which has not yet been taken by any 



