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Show BULL HAS MADE ROWAN COUNTY FAMOUS . 4 -.-"'--?'--i r il -" i . .-vv...-:v .a::v..'vv.-,vn' :. "''.-.-'.: :.:-, :--.:.r- - Xv' ; " ,.-x-:-.-:-;-.-'.v - . - . . . ..yJ: S V li -x'l M ' Antoinette's Itchen Rose King, the $15,000 Guernsey Bull Owned by the Rowan County (N. C.) Bull Association. bull, and finally succeeded in securing the use of the animal for two years for a payment of $1,000. In addition to this he gave the association the use of his own herd bull for two years, presented the association with two young bulls aged seven and eighteen months, respectively, and Insured the association bull for 30 days, to cover the period of transportation. He will insure it again for the return trip at the end of two years. He also paid the expenses of a man to go with the bull and the cost of transportation of all four bulls. The association still lias other good bulls, including one for which they refused $2,000. This exchange is an extension of the principle of saving tested bulls and using them on other herds. If this principle could be fully applied by Individual In-dividual farmers working separately, it would serve the purpose ; but it Is too dlfficu'u for the Individual to find other individuals with whom to exchange. ex-change. Then, again, buyers apparently have more confidence in breeders selling through an association. The association associ-ation is known ; it has its reputation to protect, and the stranger feels safe in buying stock through an organization. organiza-tion. Too Late The Butcher Got Him. The success of the Rowan county association as-sociation in exchanging and marketing its tried bulls is in marked contrast with the common experience of breeders breed-ers who send their good bulls to the block because they do not know how good a bull's daughters are until he is dead. The following is a typical Instance In-stance of such a loss : . The son of one of the, greatest breeding bulls in the country, and out of one of the greatest great-est breeding cows, was sold for a large price at a recent annual sale. Later, a prospective buyer who was looking for a good herd bull found that another son of this great breeding bull, and out of the dam of the great breeding cow that is, out of the grandam of the bull mentioned before bad been sold to a farmer in Kansas. Because of the extraordinary breeding ability of the sire and dam of this second bull, it was thought that their son should also become a great sire, and the buyer approached the Kansas farmer,' but found, alas, that the farmer had sold him, and the latest owner of this promising prom-ising young bull was a butcher, who did with him as butchers do and that was the end of the matter. There are numberless Instances of this sort, but they do not occur In bull associations. (Prepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) Who discovered Rowan county? Was it the county agent, the state' and dairy division field men, or the farmers themselves? All of these people peo-ple had a hand In putting Kowan county coun-ty on the cattle breeders' map. Here is how it happened. In January, 1918, two field men representing rep-resenting the state of North Carolina and the dairy division of the United States department of agriculture, held a series of meetings in North Carolina, Caro-lina, going out from the towns to the country schoolhouses and talking about bull associations. The county agent of Rowan county became interested, and an. association was organized at Salisbury, with a progressive and practical prac-tical farmer as president, for the purpose pur-pose of purchasing and owning high quality, purebred Guernsey bulls in common. That bull association has made Rowan Row-an county famous ; and the fame is based on actual beneficial results. At the beginning there were only 15 purebred pure-bred Guernseys in the whole county ; now there are 209. Over $75,000 worth of purebreds were brought into the county in 20 months. The membership of the association has gradually enlarged enlarg-ed until now there are members in every ev-ery township of the county. Their number now is 219, and they own 670 cows. These men are not experienced breeders, but the breeding operations are guided by a .man who Is perhaps the most experienced breeder in the community. The assessment per cow was at first $5. It was thought advisable advis-able to raise this to $7.50, but before doing so the fact was made public that up to a certain date new members would be accepted at the old rate ; and at the time 45 persons joined the association. as-sociation. Inquiries for Stock Pour In. Before the association was started Rowan county had no wide reputation ; It had no special reputation at all ; but very soon after the organization was formed It began to get inquiries for stock. These came from many parts of the country, and It kept the county agent busy to take care of the correspondence. corre-spondence. As this took place before any attempt had been made to advertise, adver-tise, It was apparent that the association associa-tion in itself had a strong advertising value. The breeders when working singly undoubtedly had good surplus stock for sale, but they found difficulty In selling, because they had only the local market ; but the bull association opened np the whole country as a market. The reputation made for the county reached distant states. Five graduates of the college of agriculture in Arkansas Ar-kansas are making inquiries with a view to going to Rowan county to live, because they want to live and farm In this progressive locality. A number of noldiers returning from the war are looking to Rowan county as a good place to engage in dairy farming. farm-ing. Getting After T. B. Tuberculosis, that bane of cattle raising, is being attacked in earnest. These farmers, with their fine stock and fine reputation, are not going to run the risk of losing both from this disease. Testing Is going on according accord-ing to the accredited herd plan, nnd the test for tuberculosis has been administered ad-ministered by the federal authorities to 1,000 animals. That the disease has not gained a foothold In that region is shown by the fact that only a fraction of 1 per cent reacted. Last fall the association members exhibited ex-hibited 10G head of purebred Guernseys Guern-seys at the Salisbury fair. There were 1(5 heifers in one class. Breeders from various sections of the country who had birds of the same line of breeding as the herds in the association were invited to the fair. Offered $15,000 for One Bull. Among other visitors to the county was a prominent breeder from New-York New-York state, who was looking for a herd bull. He was interested in one of the association bulls, who was the son of a $'Jll.(X)0 bull, and who had himself sired a number oC good heifers. None of these heifers bad as yet made a ree-ord, ree-ord, but their conformation indicated that they were of excellent quality. The visitor saw the bull and bis daughters, daugh-ters, and finally offered Slo.'XMl for him. The association members thought this whs a pretty good oiler, and were Inclined to accept It; but the county agent remonstrated. "North Carolina," he said, "needs for its own use ilia very best breeding stock It can get, and we ought not to part with this excellent ex-cellent animal." The price, however, was so attractive that It was bard to hold them back. ' The New York breeder wanted the |