ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



87 



order to keep us in a good supply of dairy cows. The cows that are ship- 

 ped in from the west are very often not profitable, and even the best 

 judges of cows are going to get f ooled occasionally. Probably once out 

 of live time at least. 



We have some cows at the university which are shallow and are fair 

 butter producers, and the only way to determine the efficiency of the 

 cows is to weigh the milk and te st it once in three months, or as fre- 

 quently as you can. 



The thing, it seems to me, in this region of the country in establish- 

 ing the herd is to test the cows at least once in three months. Take a 

 composite sample, put in a little preservative, and at the end of a week 

 test it; multiply by the per cent of butter fat. That takes a great deal of 

 time for the average farmer and dairyman, and he will not take time to do 

 it. 



After you have gotten the best cows selected in this way, then breed 

 from the best, and don't sell them as soon as dry, and let them go to the 

 butcher. Good cows are scarce and progeny should be raised from the 

 best. 



The hext point is in the selection of a sire. A great many people use 

 the bull that is the most handy, or, if going to buy, are governed by the 

 price. This is very bad practice. 



Get a pure bred bull — a pure bred registered sire. I think it is seldom 

 the dairy cow should be bred to anything else. Pedigree counts for more 

 in the dairy sire than all other classes of animals. You can't see in the 

 dairy bull the thing for which to pay. The beef, you can tell from the form 

 of the bull whether you got good animal for the block or not. It is the 

 sam.e in shep and hogs and horses. If you get an animal that has beeni 

 bred from good cows of many generations, you are apt to get good ones. 



The bull is half the herd. You can have cows that have been bred 

 from anything, and a pure bred registered sire from good cattle, he should 

 be more than half the herd. They have the characteristics thoroughly- 

 mixed, more so than the cows have. So the important thing is to get a 

 good sire, and one from a good strain of milkers. 



