238 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



At the price of 30 cents a pound for butter fat the 7 daugh- 

 ters of bull No. I will earn in 4 years' time $500 more than 

 their dams. It is only when the lifetime-production records of 

 all his daughters are computed and compared with those of their 

 dams that the full value of the bull's services to one generation 

 can be known. In addition to this, his influence on the herd 

 will be noticeable for many generations. This illustrates the 

 great value of a good bull. The damage done by an inferior 

 bull may be equally -great. No other argument should be neces- 

 sary in urging that every association be particularly careful in 

 selecting bulls. 



Pure-bred bulls are not all equally valuable. The daughters 

 of some are much inferior to their dams, while the daughters 

 of others greatly excel their dams. The bull should always be 

 superior to the best cows in the herd. Cows should be well 

 bred and carefully selected, but association bulls should be even 

 better bred than the cows and still more carefully selected. All 

 bulls used should be from advanced-registry dams, with a but- 

 terfat record of not less than 400 pounds and from high-pro- 

 ducing ancestors. 



Not Money Alone 



The educational value of a co-operative bull association 

 doubtless exceeds the net cash returns, for, as a rule, all mem- 

 bers of the association become greatly interested in the improve- 

 ment of their dairy herds. They study live-stock pedigrees, 

 individual conformation, and production records. They hold 

 meetings at which dairy problems of all kinds are discussed. 

 Even boys take an added interest in the farm, and especially 

 in the dairy herd. At Esmond, N. Dak., the association held a 

 cattle show in July, 1916. Cows, bulls, and young stock were 

 exhibited. The show was held in connection with a three-day 

 Chautauqua, and it was estimated that 5,000 people visited the 

 show and the chautauqua. Great interest centered about the boys' 

 stock- judging contest, which was one of the features of the 

 occasion. The educational value of such work can hardly be 

 overestimated. 



At Washington, Mich., the work of the bull association 

 led to an annual five days' agricultural school in winter and 



