parts of the future herd 
factory. 
“April 1, 1908 
[pe 
=i 
Choosing a Dairy Bull. 
That the bull is at least half or three 
is an axiom 
which is unanswerable, and it is not only 
necessary to use a thoroughbred bull but 
to know his ancestors for three or four, or 
even five, generations past. It is not 
sufficient to know what his dam is. Suc- 
_ ceeding generations of his dam may show — 
improvement, but not from’ her own 
qualities alone. It comes from her in- 
heritance, and that inheritance will very 
often inthe bull come from three or 
_four generations back. As to the breed 
of bull, this depends very much on the 
character of the country. ‘For instance, it 
_ isno use putting Jerseys on swampy 
' country, and at the same time it is of no 
use putting large bodied shorthorns on to 
_ pasturages where there is not enough 
_ grass to feed them, for when you have 
_ large-framed beasts you must have plenty 
_ of herbage. Each dairyman must decide 
on the class of cattle best suited to his 
_ Own circumstances. A common mistake 
With dairyman is to change their breed. 
If the land is most suitable for’ Jerseys, 
_ get a bull of the best Jersey strain. On 
_ the other hand, if the land is both low 
and swampy, Ayrshires will generally be 
found the most useful, and whatever 
‘breed is chosen stick to it, unless, of 
“course, 
plenty of rich pasturage this breed may 
_ pay best, as the steers can be fatiened off 
and add greatly to the profit of the 
herd. The dairyman, however, with a 
_ &mall herd and a limited aree of land will 
_ do well to stick to one of the two ‘dairy 
breeds,’ and so, whatever may be the 
reed of his cows, he may by using pure 
_ bred bulls, and always of the same strain, 
_ 4ppreciably improve his herd, and with 
the continued use of pure-bred bulls on 
the heifers thus bred it will certainly be 
‘astonishing if a firstrate dairy herd is not 
Collected in the course of a few years. 
_ There ig another phase of the subject — 
- which is worthy of attention, and that is 
i-breeding. This practice has been too 
,°Dg and persistently tried by the best 
_ Preeders the world ever saw to need much 
- *Tgument, as all the best cattle in England 
wa America aro a result of this way of. 
the results turn out unsatis-— 
There are many who prefer the — 
_nilking Shorthorn, and where there is 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
3 breeding to intensify.and perpetuate the 
m desired qualities in the- offspring. 
It is 
well within the reach of every dairyman 
for all practical purposes would be as good 
ag the thoroughbred animal from which 
the cross was instituted, and maintain a 
high standard in his dairy by the careful 
selecting and matng of his breeding 
animals, There are two axioms that 
should always be rémembered: Cull out 
all the indifferent milkers, of whatever © 
breed they may be, and keep for breeding 
only those heifers whose dams were 
remarkable for their milk and 
production. 
—Queensland Agricultural Journal’. — 
Giving. the Dairy Cow a 
Chance. : 
The cow utilises her food either for the 
elaboration of milk or the taking on of 
flesh (says a dairyman in the ‘Prairie 
Farmer’), and she yields nothing in either 
direction except by food taken in at the — 
mouth, ; : 
Tf of a dairy temperament it is used for 
the secretion of milk and, up to the limit 
of her capacity, she will respond in the 
milk pail in proportion to the amount 
supplied at the feed rack, hence if it pays 
to feed at all it pays to feed liberally, 
quite up to the limit of her capacity, and 
it will be generally noted that it is the 
persistent and not the spasmodic liberal 
feeder that scores the best results. 
But there is another point involyed in — 
_ this feeding problem that necessitates that 
_the feeder should know the different in- 
dividuals in the herd. No two cows are 
constituted with exactly the same dairy 
temperament. If some become too much 
reduced in flesh, the remedy will not 
necessarily be more feed, but a reduction 
in the amount'of protein and an increase 
in the amount of carbo-hydrates; and on — 
the other hand, if some become too fleshy, 
_ anincrease in the protein and a re- 
duction of the carbo-hydrates is advis- — 
able. 
Many cows will be found, however, 
that will yield but little milk and takeon 
flesh regardless of how the ration is 
balanced. The composition of the feed 
has a great influence even with such 
animals, but they should be elimin- 
-atedfrom the herd for they will bo 
found wanting in the balance, and so — 
the importance of closer settlement is 
suggested. seg dat ina hated his 
Babcock tester and the scales that hang in 
the cow barn, which with a little mathe- 
_ matical calculation, will show the money- 
earning capacity of the differeut members — 
_ of the herd, aid in drawing the line be- 
cream - 
a week, often in two days. Judging from 
__ The dairy farmer has a friend for hig — 
financial advancement in the typical dairy . 
cow, and he has two more friends in the — 
slight. 
31 
tween profitand loss, and »fford advantages. _ 
in weeding out and selection that we can 
not well do without. H 
to grow and develop choice grades that — 
It is simply a business proposition for 
the dairy farmer to know with which of 
his cows he can exchange his food stuffs. 
for her milk, with a margin of profit for 
himself, cy 
- 
Dehorning Dairy Cattle. 
A PAINLESS OPERATION, 
Experiments were recently madeatone  —~ 
of the American agricultural stations with _ 
a view of ascertaining whether the opera- _ 
tion of dehorning dairy cows was painful. Uateat 
In several cases the per cent, of butter fa tice se 
had been noted at each milking fora few 
days before and after dehorning, and from aoe 
these a fair estimate was arrived at of _ 
the effect of dehorning on the dairy 
cow. ; Mo sees 8 
At one experiment station a record of 
ten cows were kept. Each cowwastested _ 
two milkings before dehorning and four __ 
milkings after dehorning. In every caso 
but one the milk tested much lower at 
the milking immediately after dehorning. _ 
The test gradually increased, until it was 
much higher than it had been in the _ 
milkings previous to dehornings, and the _ 
actual amount of butter-fat produced by 
the cows wasas much or more than it _ 
would have been had the cows not been _ 
dehorned. pean pect 
recorded trials the cows came back to. 
their natural flow of milk in less than 
this the pain suffered by the cow must be 
There should be no smoking about 
where the milking is done, or about the 
milk at any time. Milk absorbs the bad 
qualities of tobacco smoke quickly. = 
