FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION 233 



good pure-bred bulls for 4 years and probably will have their 

 use 6 years longer without other additional cost than mainte- 

 nance. At an average investment of less than $25 a member, 

 another association with more than 50 members has had the 

 use of good pure-bred bulls for more than 7 years, with pros- 

 pects of being able to use them for 3 or 4 years more. 



Quick Returns on Investment 



One hundred and fifty farmers in Maryland, Michigan, and 

 Minnesota, when questioned regarding the value of co-operative 

 bull associations, estimated that the use of sires belonging to 

 the organization increased the value of the offspring in the first 

 generation from 30 to 80 per cent, with an average of 65 per 

 cent. Usually in business transactions in which there is a prob- 

 ability of great gain there is a possibility of heavy loss, but 

 in the bull associations the chances are good, \vdth little proba- 

 bility of loss. It is true that some associations have disbanded, 

 but no case in which any member has actually lost on his invest- 

 ment has been reported, even when the association continued 

 in existence for only a short time. The investment is so small 

 and the chance for herd improvement so great that the net re- 

 turns greatly exceed the small original investment. 



Line Breeding 



The association that is composed of five or six breeding 

 blocks should keep and use all its good bulls as long as they are 

 fit for service. Advancing the bull to the next block at the end 

 of two years does not eliminate him, but makes it possible to 

 avoid inbreeding. Line breeding, on the other hand, is a com- 

 mon and a very good practice, and the bull association offers 

 exceptional opportunities for conducting that kind of breeding. 

 In an association composed of breeders of pure-bred dairy cat- 

 tle, carefully selected bulls produced in one block may be used 

 in other blocks and the organization may thus continue indefinitely 

 without purchasing bulls from outside sources, if such a plan 

 seems most advisable. The same practice may be followed when 

 a number of first-class registered cows are owned by members 

 of any association. The co-operative bull association therefore 



