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Show Proven Sires Are Important In Herds i ' "The all absorbing topic today in the dairy industry of the United States is the selection of proven sires i for the dairy herds," said O. E. Reed, chief of the bureau of dairying, Washington. Wash-ington. D. C, in an address before the ninth annual farmers' encampment. "In forming bull associations among the dairymen the small farmer stands as good a chance in developing high productive cows as the richest farmer in the world. He is out of competition in proving out sires when he allies himself with aa association; uses his best judgment and keeps records of the results of the breeding of the herd." Chief Reed then told of the meth-' ods of obtaining proven sires by keeping keep-ing records that go back for several generations. He pointed out the fact that a sire with five generations of highly productive ancestors would be. generally, a good investment. He said that it was one of the greatest problems prob-lems to the industry to be able to find proven sires to keep up the production produc-tion of the herd and not to cause a decrease. "Dairymen must give more time and effort than ever before to the selection of the sires if the industry is to, be successful," Chief Reed continued. con-tinued. "There is a lot of bunk in the purebred business and we must sort it out. We have failed to cull from the lower end of the purebreds. This must be done if this specialized part of the dairy business is going to survive. Often Of-ten a high price is paid for a bull on. the merits of his daughters' records. Wc must go further back and even their grand dams. I have nothing against the system but the lack of system in the handling of purebreds." Chief Reed then urged the county-agents county-agents and the extension specialists to be very careful in choosing a sire for dairy herds. He showed that records re-cords speak louder and have more force than the- looks of the animal or his pedigree. Prof. J. B. Fitch of the Kansas State Agricultural college, conducted an open discussion during which time he said that the blood of proved sires should be preserved and that the older old-er sires should be kept in use longer. H. A. Mathiesen, of the Holstcin-Fresian Holstcin-Fresian association., showed a chart representing the records made by the daughters of 76 sires in Utah and Idaho; He pointed out that as the production pro-duction increases in the cows it is more difficult to obtain a sire which will maintain or raise the production as 50 per cent of them decrease the high productions. |