4 EFFECTS OF TICK ERADICATION. 
a practice of taking a cow to a good bull instead of breeding her to 
some little angular scrub, just because lie was near at hand, although 
he was worthless for any purpose? 
If these small farmers are to gel their just benefits and profits 
from the work the} 7 have helped to accomplish in the county, they 
must begin the practice of sending their cows to a good bull to be 
bred. This is done by the -mall farmers of the corn belt, and accounts 
largely for the high prices of cattle in those States. The farmer 
there who raises from 3 to 10 cattle a year often has better animals 
than the regular cattlemen. 
The first objection raised against this method by the farmer of 
the South, however, may be that there are no good bulls in his neigh- 
borhood. If this is the case, why can not several of these farmers 
buy a bull to be kept at some centrally located farm for breeding?- 
Or if some farmer knew that his neighbors would patronize a bull 
in the same manner that they do a stallion or a jack, how long would 
it be before some one shipped in a good bull? This could be ac- 
complished by the farmers organizing bulb clubs, either for the pur- 
chase of a bull or pledging themselves to breed their cows to a good 
bull at a reasonable fee, provided some one in the community would 
buy one. A certain time could be fixed for this breeding, say, just 
after sundown or at noon, in order to find the owner of the bull at 
home. This method was followed by one farmer in southern In- 
diana, who kept an exceptionally good bull for his own use. In 
some years as many as 40 outside cows, belonging to 30 or 32 people, 
were bred to this bull at a fee of $1 for a bull calf and $1.50 for a 
heifer. In this way the owner secured a nice sum to help pay for the 
keep of the bull, and at the same time cattle all over the community 
were improved. The effect of this one bull upon the cattle of that 
neighborhood could be seen for several years. Some of the cows 
brought to that bull were led from a distance of 1 to 1J miles, and 
where care was taken to bring the cow quietly it was seldom neces- 
sary to return her for another service. 
IMPROVEMENT OF THE PASTURE. 1 
The farmers can raise more and better cattle by devoting a Little 
time and attention to improving their pastures. Bermuda and car- 
pet grass are the two standard pasture grasses which should be used 
as a foundation for making pastures. The Bermuda will do well on 
all soils, but especially on the stiffer soils, while the carpet grass will 
do exceedingly well on the sandy soils. If these grasses are not al- 
ready present, the Bermuda should be planted during the wet weather 
of the spring, wdien other work can not be done. Bermuda sod or 
1 I'm- ;i full discussion of this subject, see Farmers' Bulletin 509 of the U. S. Department 
of Agriculture. 
