Show le div by C 1 BR Y W i tal ly W afi FL I 1 man feels independent when he has a good herd of cattle BUILDING UP A DAIRY HERD generally speaking there Is no best breed of dairy cow cony although some are better for certain purposes than others there tire are first class cows in every breed and also many unprofitable 0 ones I 1 IL a success depends mare upon the selection of profitable individuals than upon the breed the jersey ersey holstein guernsey and ayrshire Ayrs lile breeds anro re considered the standard special purpose purpose breeds and the lied bed polled shorthorn and the brown swiss alic most common dual purpose breeds breed being used to some extent for beet beef production the jerseys and tire considered most economical for production of butterfat and the holsteins and ayr shires are considered moro more profitable for wilk milk production tile the holsteins I 1 kept on good pasture and on heavy rations profitable animals must bo be selected on basis of performance shown by milk and butter records and developed by care and good feeding the beginner should consider hla his market carefully select the breed he likes best from those most suited to local conditions and then stick with that breed building up ills his herd by selection tile dairyman dal ryman to be successful must keep only such cows that pay a good annual profit many blany cows cos do not pay for their feed while others may pay from 5 5 to 50 per year over expenses tile tho unprofitable cow li Is worth only what slie silo will mill bring on the butchers block about M 30 the cow that produces 50 profit over all expenses Is worth ten cows that produce no profit both as aa a breeder and producer and should it at least be valued at to iro breeding better than buying some dairymen buy fresh cows breeding to a common sire and selling the young stock and old cows to the butcher others breed their own stock use good sires keep keel milk records and develop helfers from their best stock the first alist method lins has only ono advin tage that of allowing the dalry dairyman inan to use all its ills pastures and buildings for cows cow a that are milking the value of a good cow the dairyman a should always be prepared to buy one that Is better than what ho he lins has but it Is much safer to depend on breeding up ills his own herd the man who depends on oil buying baj ing gets cult cull stock 11 usually unless lie he pays pas much more than it would cost to breed it himself lie also runs a big risk of buying diseased Ils eased cattle D with tuberculosis or contagious abortion the man who breeds up lip ills own stock can develop ills heifers heffers to good advantage so BO that they will be quiet anti and gentle and also health lie ile will usually be able to build up a good herd more surely and quickly S sire ire Is half the herd the sl biro re Is tin half if the lierd herd but if he Is a good one lie he Is pretty near till nil of it grade cows may range in value from 25 to and the alie sire biro that of can produce the latter atter kind Is worth ninny many times more than the one that produces the 25 kind if n helfer heifer can bo be produced that when mature will give 50 to pounds more butter or 1000 pounds more milk per year than tier her dam the il annual linual profit from such ft a heifer will ne accordingly cordingly bp be from 10 to 25 more than from the foundation cow it if ten such heifers heffers were raised every year the increased profit will bo be to more per if 20 heifers heffers tire raised to TOO will be gained each year by using a good hull bull consequently it Is hard to tb understand liow ilow a progressive dairyman dalrym nn can afford to let a difference of or so so til ili the original cost of a n herd bull stand between hini him find and an additional annual income of yet dairymen will buy 25 scrub bulls that tire are worse than useless ns as improvers im of their herds while purebred males costing 50 to more would pity pay for themselves many times over in the increased value alue of tile the young oung stock produced the hire that cannot increase the value of tho the herd Is dear at any price while the owner of a grade herd may ile be justified in ili buying ns as high priced n sire as the breeder of pure breeds it good animal will always be cheapest in tile the end selection of dairy sire only a 11 purebred sire should be used from froin ancestors of known merit and of goo good d breed type masculinity and constitution ution select it if pos possible ikle the son of n first class dairy cow as tle e characteristics J acte of the dam ore are most likely to bo be reproduced in the heifers bel fers of tile the next nett generation abe lh best indication of the anlue of a bull Is the character of ills his offspring and this Is the safest and surest guide many aged bull with good records and splendid offspring tire are sold at bargain prices to avoid inbreeding and afford tin an excellent opportunity to the man who wishes a good bull ut at moderate cost strength and virility must go with good ancestry to make a good sire tile grade sire should have no lie place in ili tho the dairy herd select cows on their records record s cows may bo be selected according to type and apparently by men who are good judges but the only safe and sure sura basla basis for selection Is the annual milk record tile keeping of milk records in all parts of tho the country and in ili all classes and kinds of herds lias has shown 1 that some soine herds make large annual p bronts while others make none 2 that in the best herds there tire are usually some soine unprofitable cows and very many such in the poorer herds 3 that without records the owners of the herds could not tell with tiny any degree of accuracy which cows were paying profitably nna which were not 4 that ninny many dairymen would have made a greater yearly profit had they the sent their herd to tho the butcher at tha th beginning of the year altis thus saving baying halt hall their feed and labor expenses and get ting till nil the profit front from their best cows cowa A fact worth noting Is that several worlds record cows of ill different ferent breeds now worth thousands of dollars each i WS 0 n scrub cow which lacked 1954 ot of producing enough milk to pay for her feed and care in n one year were sold sod to their present owners fot foi small 1 I all suing beymen who lind had not anken tile tho trouble to find out what kind ot of cows they were keeping essential to keep records it Is therefore to see liow how a dairyman can afford to run tile risk of keeping unprofitable cows by refusing to keep records A merchant who could not take time to keep books book would soon go bankrupt and business methods must ile bo the rule on oil the dairl farm if a profitable business Is to bf b built up lip liven even if it should tako take nn weeks work in a year to keep a good system of records the time will bo be well spent it if the work of the year were to result in ili tin an annual profit of 1713 1715 of 0 it a loss of na as a consequence ol oi keeping records orlist or hot keeping them tile time required Is really very small the milk record Is the barometer by meana menna ut of it lie can beeg checked up on oil lils ills individual cows on his and on ills system of feeding hy by means of it lie he will notice an all increase or decrease la in milk flow and ami in the latter caso case be able to avoid trouble by removing the cause more dinten est cst Is taken in feeding the cows carefully when their records tire arc kept A circular balance scale anu ami a shoot A paper ruled oft off together with the lie babcock test will wll do the work cow testing associations are doing good work nil all over the country front from ten tea to twenty or more farmers may club together and agree to pay a qualified man to test their herds each month sharing expenses equally the system Is particularly valuable to the men with herds as they can set get their good animals tested for the advanced rc eSster ister keeping helps tile the dalry dairyman inan to get rid arld of his robber cull out unprofitable cows cow cows that prove unprofitable should be sold bold at once those paying only a small profit may be kept until bertet ones are bought or raise to take thelt places young heffers heifers that do not show up during their first lactation pearled may sometimes make a good ri lowing owIng on in a i second years trial good can aten be purchased that will pay for their feed care rind and cost in ili one year and return a good profit besides I 1 |