COOPERATIVE BULL ASSOCIATIONS. 
5 
rily the purchase price and the expense of supporting the bulls are 
distributed among the members of the association according to the 
number of cows owned by each. 
A map showing the location of members of a successful bull asso¬ 
ciation is shown in figure 1. This association is composed of 16 
farmers and is organized into five blocks. The farms are so situated 
that the bulls are at no great distance from the farm of any member. 
Before the association was formed each farmer had an average in¬ 
vestment of $89 in a scrub bull. These bulls were disposed of when 
the association was formed and five pure-bred bulls were bought at 
$240 each, or an average of $75 for each member. A larger member¬ 
ship would reduce expenses still further. As in other associations, 
the farmers united in the use of one breed and selected good bulls of 
that breed. 
An advanced step which has not yet been taken by any association 
is the purchase of an exceptionally good bull to mate with the best 
cows in the herds of every block. Such a plan for improvement of 
the better cows of the herd is applicable to pure-bred herds as well 
as grade herds. 
For the pure-bred herd the cooperative bull association undoubt¬ 
edly will do as much as for the grade herd, because it enables the 
breeders of any class of stock to buy better bulls than they otherwise 
could afford. In case the association is large and composed of well- 
to-do breeders of pure-bred dairy cattle, bulls of the highest class 
for use with all the cows are within its reach financially. 
LOW COST OF COOPERATION. 
That the need of pure-bred bulls is urgent in many parts of the 
country is evident from the facts brought out by the United States 
Department of Agriculture’s study of eight districts in the States 
of Iowa, Minnesota, and Massachusetts in which there were no asso¬ 
ciations. In this survey information was obtained regarding 1,219 
farmers owning 817 bulls whose average value was $76. Had the 
owners of these cheap bulls been properly organized the same in¬ 
vestment would have purchased the necessary bulls of an average 
value of $283. On the farms mentioned nearly four times as many 
bulls were used as would have been required under proper organiza¬ 
tion. The farmers were therefore feeding four bulls when they 
should have been feeding only one. 
Data from one of the first associations organized under the direc¬ 
tion of the Department of Agriculture illustrate this very well. 
Before the association was formed the bulls in use had an average 
market value of $89. The average price paid by the association for 
registered bulls was $240. Price does not always correspond to 
value, yet as the bulls were carefully selected the price in this case 
