T'MK R. U W A L, NEW-YORKER 
1455 
ini4. 
Running Qualities of Bulls. 
C40CRUB bulls are good runners—they 
O run the herd down.” Found in the 
“Brevities” on page 1154. 
That this statement is true can hardly 
be questioned. Time and again practical 
stock men have found that heifers sired 
by scrub bulls were noticeably inferior 
as to the quantity and quality of their 
product in comparison with like attri¬ 
butes of their dams. I have heard farm¬ 
ers contend that there were some scrub 
bulls that were worth more than many 
purebred animals, and while this is true 
in a few cases, it is not true in so large 
a number of cases as one may think. It 
is easy enough for one to think that he 
has a fine animal in his barn, then go 
to a fair and think bis animal is better 
than any of those which are exhibited, 
but when it comes to a real comparison 
of the two animals, often there is none 
whatever. 
The chief asset of the purebred bull 
is his ancestry. One must remember 
when buying bulls that a pedigree is 
nothing but family history—called gen¬ 
ealogy when applied to the science of 
tracing human pedigrees. As a general 
thing, a superior scrub bull is a “happen¬ 
stance,” and only is found once in a 
while. In other words, his ancestry have 
not been selected at all, much less with 
any particular characteristic in mind. 
It often happens that in any particular 
family, there is often a very superior in¬ 
dividual despite the fact that the common 
run of the family are decidedly below par. 
Common observation reveals to us that 
the offspring of this superior individual 
do not, as a rule, emulate the life of their 
parent, but rather tend to follow the gen¬ 
eral average of the family from which 
he sprang. 
The purebred animals are the product 
of centuries of selection and culling, and 
is it then any wonder that they are able 
to transmit more of the desirable char¬ 
acteristics to their get than even a super¬ 
ior though scrub bull? Many of the 
strains in the various breeds have been 
selected and bred with a definite aim in 
mind for, some of them over a hundred 
years, and hence the heritage of one 
of these is much greater than that of 
the animal whose parentage has not been 
selected. 
While it is often the case that a pure¬ 
bred bull is an inferior animal, yet it is 
the blood back of him that counts. We 
can say that the scrub bull has no blood 
back of him. For many decades the 
dairy breeds generally have been selected 
for milk capacity, and this has developed 
the tri-wedge conformation. It is true 
that a purebred bull of this conforma¬ 
tion will put it on more of his calves and 
more distinctly than will a scrub that 
only happened to have this form. 
Right at this point is where the rec¬ 
ords of production of ancestors become 
important. Two bulls may have family 
history traced back for the same number 
of years or generations but at that, the 
records of production are what do the 
testing. One animal has an ancestry of 
mediocre producers while the other’s an¬ 
cestry are nearly all higli-quality ani¬ 
mals. Unquestionably, the latter animal 
is far the more valuable. If a bull is 
worth keeping at all. he should be a 
good one. Of two bulls the same age and 
size, it costs practically the same amount 
to care for the poor one as for the good 
one and so about the only difference be¬ 
tween a poor animal and a good one is 
the first cost. As to the difference in 
quality which two purebred bulls may 
actually impart to their offspring, we 
have the following quotation from Ohio 
Experiment Station Circular, No. 135, 
page SI: 
One 1 lolsteiu-Friesian hull used in the 
Ohio Experiment Station herd increased 
the average production of his seven 
daughters 1.299 pounds of milk and 40 
pounds of butterfat per year above that 
of their dams. Forty pounds of fat per 
year for six years (average producing 
period) by each of seven cows would be 
I, 080 pounds of fat; 1.080 pounds at 30 
cents per pound, equals $504. This ani¬ 
mal cost $100 when a calf. 
One Jersey used in the Station herd 
decreased the average production of his 
II. daughters over 700 pounds of milk 
and over 45 pounds of butterfat per year 
below that of their dams. Forty-five 
pounds of fat per year for six years by 
each of 11 cows would be 2,970 pounds, 
which at 30 cents per pound would equal 
$891. The immediate difference in money 
value of these two bulls on these herds 
of less than 20 cows each was $1,395.00. 
Both bulls had an equally ^ood chance to 
increase the production. 
.So it appears that there are such 
things as purebred scrubs. The bull 
should be tried out first and after he has 
proven his worth, then care for him in 
such a way that his hereditary character¬ 
istics are not. impaired. The practice 
which some breeders follow of turning 
off their bulls from low-producing cows 
and selling them as breeders is lament¬ 
able. It is this very thing which is re¬ 
tarding progress in the dairy industry. 
I. J. MATHEWS. 
The Inheritance of Color in Horses. 
B ULLETIN ISO from the Kentucky 
Agricultural Experiment Station 
will be interesting alike to the prac¬ 
tical horse breeder who desires to 
understand the scientific basis for the 
transmission of color and to the student 
of breeding who is interested in any 
investigations which may throw light 
upon its problems. The studies here 
described were undertaken with the idea 
of ascertaining whether or not color in 
horses is a “unit character” and so obe¬ 
dient to the Mendelian law of domin¬ 
ants and recessives among unit char¬ 
acters. It was believed that if color 
could be shown to be a true unit char¬ 
acter the way might be opened to an 
understanding of the transmission of 
other more important characteristics. As 
a result of these studies, the author 
states that color has been shown to obey 
Mendel’s laws and that through their ap¬ 
plication desired colors may be produced 
at will. The steps by which these con¬ 
clusions were reached involve a technical 
understanding of the laws of Mendelism 
not usually possessed by the casual read¬ 
er and not likely to interest him, but the 
conclusions, themselves, will attract the 
attention of all careful horse breeders. 
The physical basis of heredity rests in 
small bodies, called chromosomes, within 
the germ cells of every animal, and every 
quality whether good or bad, appears to 
have its own chromosome. It is through 
the chance union of these chromosomes, 
or determiners, when the sexes are united 
that the quality which shall appear in 
the offspring is determined. Color is 
found to be a unit character, dependent, 
like other unit characters, upon the 
chance union of its chromosomes. It be¬ 
haves like other Mendelian units, that is, 
it does not blend and lose its identity 
but. when recessive, disappears altogether 
though still retaining its determiners in 
the germ cells and. thus, its ability to 
reappear in some future generation. If 
the laws which govern the transmission 
of good and bad characters in the horse 
can be worked out as the author believes 
that those governing the transmission of 
color have been worked out, the breeding 
of horses can be put upon a more scien- 
tific basis and this preliminary study of 
transmission of color will have proved a 
valuable contribution to that end. 
M. B. D. 
Truth About Belgian Hares. 
O N page 1338, E. R. S. asks about 
raising Belgian hares for meat once 
in a while. There is money in Bel¬ 
gian hares if handled right, ami I do not 
think there is any danger of swamping 
the market, as they are always in de¬ 
mand. I have raised both Belgian hares 
and rabbits, but know the hares are more 
profitable than the smaller breeds. I 
have found them more profitable than 
poultry, easier to take care of. do not 
demand all high priced grain, will eat 
anything a sheep will. I would rather 
have a hare to eat any time than a 
chicken. Belgian hares can be raised 
for a family with very little cost, as they 
can be feci on potato parings, cabbage 
leaves and such things that are thrown 
away, with most families in town. They 
do not require expensive coops; a dry- 
goods box will do. They do not require 
an outside run. A box three feet square 
will do for a doe and her young until 
weaning time, although a larger pen is 
advisable when possible. A trio (two 
does and a buck) will supply a good- 
sized family with about all the meat 
they want, if cared for right. They can 
be bred six times a year, but it is not 
advisable to breed over four times. They 
will produce on an average about eight 
to a litter. w. A. r. 
Waterloo, N. Y. 
Advantages of Thick Cream. 
4< / T'I<iIlTEN up the separator screw.” 
JL That is the advice a creamery 
sends out to its patrons, and for 
part of one year, one man was out a 
large part of his time tightening the sep¬ 
arator cream screw. The following are 
the advantages: Cream keeps better when 
thick ; does not sour as rapidly as when 
thin; there is a smaller quantity of 
cream to handle and cool: it can be 
cured for the factory more economically: 
more .skim-milk remains at home; the 
capacity of creamery is increased without 
increasing its equipment, and when it is 
necessary to pasteurize cream much less 
is lost in the process when cream is 
thick. Further, the farmer saves in 
transportation charges. With such cream 
it is possible to produce better quality 
butter, with a possibility of better price 
per pound to the farmer for butterfat. 
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'V 
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cows are giving more milk than if milked by hand.” The 
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Empire Sta-Rite 
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faiii 
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