98 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



I do not wish to convey the idea that the cow testing 

 association is adaptable to every one milking cows, because 

 many of you do not have a large enough herd to justify 

 being in one. But your extension department of the Uni- 

 versity is no doubt attempting to solve this matter in a sat- 

 isfactory way. The big thing is get the necessary informa- 

 tion relative to your cows, so as to be able to select those 

 you should keep, and get rid of those that are requiring too 

 high a board bill. 



Reference was made a few moments ago to the effect 

 that the profitableness of cows depended not only upon the 

 care and feed they receive, but also upon their ability to 

 give large quantities. In other words a good cow must be 

 born with the ability for high production. This fact forms 

 the basis or background for all the breeding work that has 

 been done, with dairy cattle, and the problem is uppermost 

 in the minds of dairymen today. It is generally said that 

 considering all our cows, we have to raise at present three 

 in order to get two that are satisfactory. The big point of 

 our breeding practice should be then to raise a higher per- 

 centage of big producers. Every farmer who has given 

 careful thought to herd improvement realizes that the main 

 chance for rapid improvement of a herd is in the use of 

 better blood through the sire. No one recommends the 

 purchase of a high class cow and an inferior bull as a means 

 of improving a herd. If you have ten cows in your herd, 

 you will, theoretically, get ten calves a year by the bull and 

 only one calf a year from each cow. In other words, the 

 blood of the sire will be piled up ten times greater than 

 will the blood of any one cow. That is the fundamental 

 reason why we should look upon the sire as offering the 

 quickest and most practical means of getting good produc- 

 ing blood in our dairy herds. 



It is estimated that dairymen must raise three cows in 

 order to get two that are profitable. It must be remem- 

 bered that they are raised at great expense and that two 

 years must elapse before any return can be expected. If 

 we go to this expense of raising them, we should have some 

 assurance that they will be profitable. The fact that they 



