270 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



Beauty is that which differs from the common herd and 

 appeals to our aesthetic natures. The characteristic which ren- 

 der an animal pleasing to the eye are in a measure antagonistic 

 to the characteristics necessary to heavy milk production, un- 

 less we see beyond the surface and measure beauty by utility. 

 Cattle bred for beauty are suited to the parks of the wealthy but 

 not to be business partners with the common dairyman whose 

 income depends on the product of his herd. In the past, pedigree 

 and beauty of form have played too great a part in breeding 

 operations and have retarded rapid progress in production. One 

 is at times constrained to say that a breeder should know the 

 individuals in his herd by the scales, the Babcock test, and the 

 feed bin only. The outward appearance should be of secondary 

 consideration and valued as an indication of productive capacity 

 and vitality. The true measure of the economic value of a cow 

 is her production of milk and butter fat. 



If animals backed by ancestry which produced milk rich 

 in fat are mated, the offsprings may be expected to retain that 

 characteristic or possibly to advance. The same principle holds 

 in the mating of animals whose ancestry were heavy milkers. 

 Breeding without attention to either of these qualities tends to 

 keep productive capacity at a standstill or, if the cattle have been 

 well bred, to permit it to decline. Improvement comes only by 

 continued careful selection. For these reasons yearly records 

 are invaluable to the man who wishes to build up a herd of effi- 

 cient cows and the man who begins keeping records early in 

 his breeding work will avoid much disappointment later. The 

 folloAving has been accomplished by one Illinois breeder who 

 followed this method: Four of his cows have produced in one 

 year between 18,000 and 21,000 pounds of milk each and be- 

 tween 605 and 656 pounds of butter fat; thirteen have produced 

 in one year between 13,000 and 19,000 pounds of milk and over 

 500 pounds of butter fat; three have produced over 12,000 

 pounds of milk and over 440 pounds of butter fat; others in the 

 herd have made very good records. These cows were not select- 

 ed from many herds, as is frequently the case in building up 

 a herd, but were bred and reared on the farm of the owner. 



