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Breeding Dairy Cattle. 



[Oct. 



heifer calves which will be satisfactory dairy cows and bull 

 calves which can be reared into good steers, it is easy for the 

 breeder to think so much of one of these objects as to neglect 

 others. 



There is considerable divergence of opinion as to whether 

 the dual-purpose ideal is really attainable, i.e., whether it is 

 possible to combine in a family of animals the desired excellence' 

 in all directions. It is readily granted that individual cows 

 possess the two qualities of large milk yield and fattening 

 capacity to a high degree, but it is by no means proved that they 

 possess the power of producing both heifers as good as themselves, 

 and steers with the conformation and fattening capacity required 

 in high-class beef animals. The practice of some breeders in 

 selecting one bull from a family more noted for beef than for 

 milk in order to increase the substance of the herd, and, later, 

 selecting a bull from a dam with a high milk record in order to 

 raise the falling milk yield, supports to some extent the point of 

 view that it is almost impossible to breed dual-purpose cows 

 from similar stock with any certainty. 



It is sufficient here to point out that efforts to 'attain a dual- 

 purpose ideal may lessen the chances of success in breeding 

 for milk production, and it is suggested that the farmer whose 

 main source of income is milk or other dairy products, should 

 concentrate his attention on improving the constitution, the 

 breeding powers and the milk yield of his herd. 



The breeder should first make himself familiar with the 

 principles of breeding, and consider their application to his own 

 particular conditions. More rapid progress is likely to be made 

 when a group of farmers in one district are working for improve- 

 ment in the same direction and with similar material. Friendly 

 co-operation and competition are invaluable, and in this direction 

 Milk Recording Societies may do much in bringing owners of 

 the same breeds or with the same aims in touch with one 

 another. 



Principles and Systems of Breeding. — The first principle to 

 be noted is embodied in the familiar phrase " like begets like," 

 and the second is that the progeny always show a greater or 

 lesser degree of variation from their parents. A tendency has 

 become evident in recent years to modify the first phrase to ' ' like 

 tends to beget like," and to amplify it to " like begets like or 

 the likeness of an ancestor." Observation suggests that the 

 -latter is probably more correct. It has been the custom of some 

 writers on breeding to speak of the inheritance by the immediate 



