1879.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
57 
Importance of the Male. 
It has been a too common practice among farmers 
to look upon a bull merely as an inconvenient ne¬ 
cessity, and the cheaper his services were ob¬ 
tained and the easier done with, so much the more 
was gained. While the breeders of choice stock 
have done much to dispel this illusion, yet, even 
though farmers disbelieve it, their practice is still 
too often in accordance with the same idea. “ A 
calf is a calf, and the only necessity for it is to re¬ 
new the flow of milk from the cow,” is the expres¬ 
sion of the opinion largely held in many milk dis¬ 
tricts. But the calf is more than this ; it is the ani¬ 
mal that we shall look to for milk by •and by, and 
there is great necessity for making the most of it. 
To do this, the calf must not only have a good dam, 
but the sire is also an important element in the 
problem, as he has at least equal influence with the 
mother in shaping the characteristics of the off¬ 
spring. In choosing the bull to breed from, it is 
not too much to say that as much care should be 
exercised, as in the selection of the whole herd of 
cows, because, so far as the offspring are con¬ 
cerned, he is half the herd. The cost of the services 
of a bull, therefore, or of the animal himself, if he 
is to be purchased, is to be considered not in com¬ 
parison with a single cow, but with the whole herd 
of twenty or thirty, and the offspring. A farmer 
owning a herd of fairly good cows, may, by the use 
of a high-bred bull, that is, one which has his char¬ 
acteristics strongly fixed by continued breeding, 
breed up a herd of superior milkers, butter pro¬ 
Fig. 1.— BOOF-FBAME FOB THATCHING. 
ducers, or beef animals, according to his needs and 
his skill in the practice. For the sex which has the 
desired qualities the strongest developed will have 
the greatest influence in moulding the character 
of the offspring in the direction we are seeking. 
In breeding valuable blooded stock of any kind, 
these facts are of special importance, as there are 
greater risks, and also greater possible gains. Five 
dollars difference in the cost of the service of a 
male may make a difference of $25 or $50 in the 
value of the calf; and $100, or $500, in the price 
paid for a bull may make a difference of $25 iu every 
calf from a herd of 20 cows for 2 or 3 years, or 
$1,000 to $1,500 in all. Not that price alone governs 
the value of an animal for breeding; the eye of the 
experienced judge, and the record of the family 
must also come in as important factors in the selec¬ 
tion. But no breeder can afford to run any unne¬ 
cessary risks, and especially should not be tempted 
by low prices, when he is not absolutely sure of the 
quality of the animal otherwise. The selection of 
the bull for the first service with a heifer is as im¬ 
portant as at any stage, in fact, more important, for 
the first impregnation may influence the whole 
after progeny of the cow. The characteristics of 
the first sire, even to color and form, are often no¬ 
ticeable in the second, third, and subsequent gen¬ 
erations. (Those interested in these important ques¬ 
tions should read the new book on “ Stock Breed¬ 
ing)” by Prof. Manly Miles. See our Book List.) 
We are led to these remarks by a recent trip 
through a noted milk-producing section, and by the 
experience of a friend in the purchase of a herd of 
imported Jerseys. In the first case, very little at¬ 
tention has been paid in the past to the character 
of the bull, the calves often being killed as soon as 
born, and the farmers depending on renewing their 
herds from back country districts and from ped- 
lers. Long experience, however, has taught that 
this is an unprofitable practice, as compared to the 
careful breeding and rearing of the animals on the 
home farm, and now the farmers are getting more 
interested in the question of breeds and breeding, 
and are willing to pay more for the services of su¬ 
perior bulls, thus encouraging their keeping by 
some of their number. In the second case alluded 
to, the gentleman thought of the bull no more than 
as one of the cows, in fact, paid a less price for him 
than for any one of the former. The result was, 
that he got an animal not so good as the average of 
his cows, and he is solicitous for the quality of the 
forthcoming progeny. Some of his first season’s 
calves, being well sired in Jersey, are very superior 
animals, making the comparison the stronger. 
How to Increase the Home Market 
for Cheese. 
The recent “International Dairy Fair” called 
attention to the fact that farmers themselves con¬ 
sume but little cheese, though it is one of the most 
2.— THE BEGINNING. 3. —THATCHEB’S STAGE. 
wholesome and economical articles of food. Its 
value is much better appreciated in England, 
whither the larger part of the $12,000,000 worth of 
cheese exporte.d from this country goes. In al¬ 
most every English house, whether palace or cot¬ 
tage, cheese is a staple article of food, and the 
laborer has his cheese as regularly as his bread. 
The use of cheese is far more common in our cities 
and villages than in rural districts. In some farm¬ 
ing towns not one house in ten has cheese upon the 
table, regularly. The introduction of cheese fac¬ 
tories in the dairy districts has had a tendency to 
banish cheese from the farmer’s table. When it 
was made iu the house, it was a common article of 
food. It was eaten with the bread and cakes for 
lunch, with the pastry at dinner, with the bread 
and. milk of the farm-hands at supper. Now the 
milk all goes to the cheese factory, and the cheese 
is so much relied upon to bring money, that very 
little of it comes back to the family. The factories 
have so improved the quality, and so cheapened it, 
that in many districts it has ceased to pay to make 
Fig. 4.— THE WOBK PBOGBESSED. 
cheese, even where butter can be made at a profit. 
States that once exported cheese in large quantities 
to Baltimore and the South, are now large import¬ 
ers of the factory-made article. There is talk of 
making cheese a ration in the army to increase the 
demand for this article. But this is only a drop in 
the bucket in comparison with the nearly fifty mil¬ 
lions of people. We need to popularize cheese as 
thoroughly as butter. We have no doubt it would 
contribute largely to the health and thrift of the 
country to do this. There is hardly any form of 
animal food in which we can get so much nourish¬ 
ment for the money as in cheese. The factory-made 
article is good enough for immediate consumption, 
and meets very well the wants of the city and vil¬ 
lage population, who can buy it at the grocery, by 
the pound, as suits their convenience. But farmers 
want a smaller cheese, and of better keeping quality. 
We do not want a 50 or 70-pound cheese, but one 
of 15 or 20 pounds weight, cured sufficiently to 
keep until it is consumed. This will greatly help 
the home market for cheese. Connecticut. 
Thatching Roofs with Straw. 
A thatched roof is tight, warm, and durable, is 
easily repaired, and may be wholly replaced by re¬ 
peated repairs in the course of years ; thus lasting 
continuously.—-It will come in well on the prairie 
farms where timber is scarce, and shingles are ex¬ 
pensive. It is warm in winter, while it is loss 
penetrated by the 
hot summer sun. 
It is available for 
barns, stables, and 
cottages, while it is 
by no means ill- 
looking. But to be 
lasting, it must be 
well made. The 
first requisite is 
hand-thrashed lye, 
barley or wheat- 
s tra w , which 
should be dampen¬ 
ed before it is 
used. The next is a proper arrangement of roof- 
laths. These may be round or split saplings,not more 
than 2 inches thick, flattened where they cross the 
rafters, and securely nailed (see fig. 1). The work¬ 
ing-stage (fig. 3), consists of a wide board a few 
feet long, having two pins at one end which hook 
on to the roof-lath, a cleat at the lower end, and 
a seat about the middle, for the thatcher while at 
work. Besides one for each workman, a spare stage 
Fig. 5.— AT THE GABLE. 
Fig. 6 .—NEEDLE FOB USE IN THATCHING. 
will be convenient in moving about the roof. One 
person prepares the straw in bundles of a conven¬ 
ient size with the butts evenly arranged. A bundle 
of straw is first laid upon the laths at the corner of 
Fig. 7.— THATCHEB’S MALLET. 
the roof, with the ends turned outwards to the 
gable as shown at fig. 2, and is tied down to the 
laths by tarred twine, a wooden needle (fig. 6), be¬ 
ing used to carry the twine. The next bundle is 
laid close up to the first, with the lower ends turned 
outwards a little less, and is tied firmly, a knot 
being made at every tie. This is contined for 
a few feet, when the second tier is begun (see fig. 5), 
the butts being turned out so at to project a few 
inches over the edge of the roof. The work is thus 
continued until the peak of the roof is reached, the 
tiers being laid as shown at fig. 4. The peak is 
covered by bending the straw over upon each side, 
and fastening it down by the twine. A thin split 
sapling, hoop-poles, or even barrel-hoops, may be 
used to finish off the peak. These are laid upon 
the straw a foot or less from the ridge, and tightly 
bound down, a man inside helping. To make a 
continuously smooth sloping roof, as represented 
at fig. 8, the straw is shaved off with a grass-hook, 
or a knife made of a piece of a scythe-blade, and 
then beaten down with the mallet shown at fig. 7. 
The more carefully this is done, the more closely 
the straw will lie, and the tighter the roof will be. 
By repeating the 
layers until the 
straw is six inch¬ 
es thick, there 
will be none 
of the binding- 
twine visible ex¬ 
cept at the ridge 
where it is 
bound around 
the strips. When 
the slopes are 
finished, the 
„ edges of the 
6 roof are cut and 
trimmed smoothly, the eaves being cut horizontal¬ 
ly, or nearly so, and the gables perpendicularly. 
Thatched roofs are coming into more general use, 
often to the pecuniary advantage of the farmers, 
who thus utilize a product that is worth very little. 
