6 
farmers" BULLETIN 993. 
is doubtless a fair index of true worth. In this association each 
farmer's investment for a share in a good registered bull was $14 
less than his former investment in an animal of inferior breeding 
and doubtful merit. 
Actual first-cost figures from other cooperative bull associations 
are even more encouraging. In one association having more than 
100 members the original cost to each member was only $23. The 
members already have had the use of good pure-bred bulls for four 
years and probably will have their use six years longer without 
additional cost other than maintenance. Another association with 
more than 50 members has had the use of good pure-bred bulls for 
more than seven years at an average investment of less than $25 a 
member, with prospects of being able to use them for three or four 
years more. Practically all dairymen desire to raise pure-bred cattle, 
but comparatively few can afford individually to purchase such 
bulls as are needed to develop a profitable pure-bred herd. The 
bull association overcomes the difficulty, and the money saved can 
be used toward the purchase of registered females. 
QUICK RETURNS ON THE INVESTMENT. 
When questioned regarding the value of cooperative. bull asso¬ 
ciations, 150 farmers in Maryland, Michigan, and Minnesota esti¬ 
mated that the use of bulls belonging to the organization increased 
the value of the offspring in the first generation from 30 to 80 per 
cent, with an average of 65 per cent. Usually in business transactions 
in which there is a probability of great gain there is a possibility 
of heavy loss, but in the bull associations the chances of profit are 
excellent, with little probability of loss. The investment is so small 
and the chance for herd improvement so great that the net returns 
greatly exceed the small original investment. 
LINE BREEDING POSSIBLE. 
An association having as many as five or six breeding blocks 
should keep and use all its good bulls as long as they are fit for 
service. Advancing the bull to the next block at the end of two years 
does not eliminate him; it simply makes it possible to avoid in- 
breeding. Line breeding, on the other hand, is a common and de¬ 
sirable practice, and the bull association offers exceptional oppor¬ 
tunities for conducting that kind of breeding. In an association 
composed of breeders of pure-bred dairy cattle carefully selected 
bulls produced in one block may be used in other blocks, and the 
organization may thus continue indefinitely without purchasing bulls 
from outside sources if such a plan seems advisable. The same 
practice may be followed when only a few high-class registered cows 
are owned by members of any association. The cooperative bull 
