LLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



91 



1 e; ence between horses and dairy cattle is that it takes no more than about 

 five minutes to tell how good a pa.icular horse is for a particular purpose, 

 whereas it takes the entire life of a dairy cow to tell her worth. For this 

 reison experiments on an extended scale with dairy animals are expensive. 

 Breeders must creep along feeling their way in the dark. Phenomenal 

 .qualities on the maternal side, which are difficult to reproduce among 

 dairy cows than among other animals. Dairymen, therefore, who work for 

 profit, have to limit their experiments and work for results they can see 

 and form a judgment of without waiting too long. 



The great bulk of the dairy products of the country come from cows that 

 are only ordinary in quality. Some oi them are not capable of returning a 

 profit; a few return a fairly good profit, while the far greater proportion are 

 jusc about on the line, paying just a little profit. These are the herds that 

 need grading up and improving by degrees. It is here that Brown Swiss 

 bulls may be used with great advantage. The principles of breeding which 

 have been followed in Switzerland for countless generations have produced 

 a race of cattle which is specialized in the matter of constitution. The 

 Swiss breeders have not sought for phenomenons. They have gone on che 

 principle that a good cow bred to a good bull will produce a good calf. They 

 consider that no valuable quality in a cow can be neglected. They de- 

 pend upon the same cattle for their milk and meat. The result of many 

 centuries of breeding on these principles is as might be supposed. The char- 

 acteristic of general excellence, the re?ult of careful and intelligent breeding, 

 has been supplemented by bringing up the young stock upon the sides of the 

 mountains with. good food that has to be worked for, good water and air. 

 The cows and bulls are in demand for export to almost all countries, for they 

 do well in all climates. Not only do they thrive in our country, but in all 

 parts of it, and their blood is particularly valuable for mixing with other 

 Hood because the other blood gains as much as possible in every way and is 

 sure to lose nothing, there being no valuable characteristic of dairy cows lost 

 or diminished when Swiss blood is raided. 



