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Show ! BULL SHOULD ALWAYS BE SUPERIOR TO MOST CAREFULLY SELECTED COW IN HERD v..-. -- v'-':" A Well-Bred Cow The Dam. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) In all bull-association work the influence in-fluence of heredity is recognized. Since like tends to beget like in production as well as in appearance, there is little lit-tle clanger that the pure-bred bull whose ancestors for several generations genera-tions have been first-clays individuals will inherit or transmit the qualities of some inferior distant ancestor. If he is also well formed, strong and healthy, he will almost certainly increase in-crease out of all proportion to his cost the income from the first generation of a scrub or low-grade herd. In fact the time may come when it will be possible pos-sible to eliminate all bulls except those whose dams are in the advanced registry. regis-try. If the best bulls were used to their full capacity in pure-bred herds, and if only good pure-bred bulls were used in the ordinary dairy herds, the income from the dairy business could be vastly increased. If possible, all bulls used should be from advanced-registry advanced-registry dams with a butterfat record of not less than 400 pounds. The dams should be from high-producing ancestors. ances-tors. The bull should always be superior su-perior to the best cows in the herd, and all cows should be well bred and carefully selected. Improvements Due to Sire. Few organizations have been in operation op-eration long enough for the producing daughters of an association bull to be compared with their dams. The following fol-lowing figures, however, received from an association at New Windsor, Md., show the improvement due to the sire nnd the average butterfat production 3i daughters of association bulls compared com-pared with that of their dams : Fat average (pounds). Bull No. 1: 7 daughters 270.5 7 dams 208.3 Increase 62.2 Bull No. 2: 7 daughters 281.6 7 dams 226.4 Increase 55.2 Bull No. 3: 2 daughters 369.5 2 dams .. 254.0 Increase 115.5 Fourteen out of sixteen daughters excelled their dams, the average increase in-crease of the daughters over dams be ing 30 per cent. The increase of the daughters of the good bulls mentioned above occurred with remarkable regularity. regu-larity. On the other hand, a poor bull decreases the production of his daughters. daugh-ters. Note the following results of using a scrub bull : The dam produced 14.". pounds of fat The daughters of the bull and this dam produced. . 126 pounds of fat The granddaughter of the bull produced 99 pounds o fat It is only when the lifetime-production records of all his daughters are compared with those of their dams that the full value of the bull's services to one generation can be known. In addition his influence on the herd will be noticeable for many generations. genera-tions. This illustrates the great value of a good bull. The damage done by an inferior bull may be equally great. No other argument should be necessary neces-sary in urging that every association be particular in selecting bulls. Real Value of Bull. . All pure-bred bulls are not equally valuable. The daughters of some are inferior to their dams, while the daughters daugh-ters of others greatly excel their dams. The only way one may know the real value of the bull is to compare the production pro-duction records of his daughters with those of their dams. It takes at least three years from the time the bull is put into service to obtain some of this Information, and very often the farmer farm-er has disposed of the bull a year or more before the end of that time. When he finds that the bull has improved im-proved the herd, his search for the bull may end in the stockyard or with the butcher. It is seldom that such a bull is found again. If he still lives and is being used, It may be at a considerable con-siderable distance from the original owner. Since the two do not meet, the second user has no means of knowing the worth of the bull. Thus many valuable valu-able bulls have been lost and inferior ones used instead. In the bull association asso-ciation this cannot happen, for all the bulls are kept in the association until thoroughly tried. The poor ones are then sent to the' block and the good ones kept and judiciously used to their full capacity to the end of their usefulness, useful-ness, which may be 12 or 15 years. This advantage alone is enough to repay all the trouble and expense of forming an association. ' tP s ' vi, i - A - A Weil-Bred Bull The Sire. |
