THE PUREBRED SIRE QUESTION. 
His Value in a Herd. 
You seem to have stirred up something of a dis¬ 
cussion in the matter of the purebred bull, as the let¬ 
ters on page 12S4 show. I have spent a large part 
of my life on a dairy farm, and we still have a good- 
sized herd of grade Holsteins on our farm, so per¬ 
haps I am not entirely ruled out because at present 
I have more to do with fruit than with dairy cattle. 
It is not surprising, when you come to think of it, 
that quite divergent and in some cases conflicting 
views are held as to the value of the purebred sire. 
either heifer or bull calves are allowed to grow to 
maturity, and these only from the best cows. The 
remainder go for veal. In this way the high capacity 
of the breed is maintained. Something of the same 
result is reached in this country by breeders who 
keep their best animals for breeding and sell their 
less promising individuals to dairymen who wish to 
introduce more or less of improved blood into their 
herds. Under the circumstances it is not surprising 
that purebreds sometimes fail in the hands of the 
novice to give the satisfaction expected. It is also 
apparent that the chance of getting a good bull at a 
fair price is better than that of getting a heifer of 
are apparently no better producers on the average 
than their dams, and here is where the value of the 
bull club comes in. Such "a club involves the owner¬ 
ship in the community of a number of purebred bulls 
which are used by the members of the club in rota¬ 
tion. Some of these bulls will prove to be poor 
breeders, and should be disposed of and replaced by 
young purebred animals as soon as the records show 
that the production of the daughters does not at 
least equal that of their dams at a corresponding 
age. A few are very likely to be prepotent, and these 
should be preserved and used as extensively as pos¬ 
sible. Unfortunately we are unable to determine 
TW IX STEERS AND TWO SOLID CHIPS OF THE “GOOD OLD STOCK 
Dairying is in a state of transition in this country. 
Most dairy herds are of mixed blood, and must neces¬ 
sarily continue so for some time to come. The test 
of these herds, and of all dairy cattle ultimately, is 
the power to make good in the milkpail. Under 
present conditions, with purebred cattle greatly in 
the minority, and consequently high in price, this 
-act of the value of producing power is apt to be 
overlooked, and the name "purebred" tends to take 
on a sort of magic which may result in a good deal 
of disappointment unless some of the principles of 
breeding are understood and kept well in mind. In 
the first place, it is possible for a purebred cow to 
be of very ordinary character as a milker. Constant 
and rigorous selection is required to keep up a good 
record for even a purebred herd. Even the descend¬ 
ants of high producers are more likely to approach 
the average of the breed than the records of their 
dams. Therefore we must not expect too much of a 
purebred merely because of its purity of blood. In 
Holland, the original home of the Holstein, where of 
course all are purebred, only a small proportion of 
equal quality, since the breeders themselves have 
need of fewer bulls than heifers. 
This brings us to a consideration of the grade. I 
do not need to give the arguments for the value of 
grades to the average farmer. That has already 
been thrashed out pretty well. There is no question 
that the use of a purebred bull is the cheapest way 
to introduce a considerable amount of improved 
blood into a herd of ordinary mixed cattle. It is 
not so much a question of whether the dairyman can 
afford a purebred bull as whether, at present prices, 
he can afford to be without one. If anyone is skepti¬ 
cal on that point let him turn to page 1119 and read 
what Prof. Davenport has to say on the subject. As 
this is pretty high authority it will do him no harm 
if he should commit it to memory. Then let him 
study the experience of practical breeders and dairy¬ 
men until lie becomes so well convinced of the value 
of grading that he can argue for it. and then let him 
go out and persuade his neighbors to form a bull 
club. One of the things he will doubtless discover is 
the fact that the daughters of many purebred bulls 
which are the prepotent animals until the daughters 
come into milk. At first glance it may seem that a 
good deal of time and money has been wasted in 
breeding from the less desirable bulls. We should 
remember, however, that a good deal of the blood 
and many of the characteristics of the improved 
breed would thus be introduced into the herd, and 
that these grade cows, when mated with a prepotent 
bull, stand a better chance of producing daughters 
of high quality than would unimproved cows of the 
same capacity. 
It is possible that some of the readers of The It. 
X.-Y. have had experience with a club such as is here 
suggested, and could give us some first-hand informa¬ 
tion of value; there are a few points, however, 
which would need to be taken into consideration to 
insure its success. 1. Each member should under¬ 
stand clearly the objects of the club and the rights 
of each member to the services of the bulls owned 
by the various members of the club. 2. There should 
be some provision to guarantee the proper feeding 
and care of the bulls to maintain them in good con- 
