Show USE SIR SIRES ES OF ONE meritorious BRE BREED Z ai V steers which won first prize at international sho show by FRANK D THOMSON it Is surprising to observe how many stock farmers have been Inell inclined ned after having bred grade cattle for a considerable sid erable number of years usually of shorthorn blood to use upon these females a cross of some other breed the writer has known a number of instances of herds having been graded up in shorthorn blood for a period of 10 to 25 years and then all of these years effort abandoned by the introduction of a sire of another breed in some cases the first cross on such a foundation appears entirely satisfactory but the later crosses are less reliable and in a large percentage of cases prove it a disappointment it takes years to grade up a herd and when shen this is done by the continuous use of registered sires of any breed the results show a steady improvement assuming the sires used to be of a higher standard than the foundation females after a few such crosses are made the herd becomes for all practical purposes as usiel is as a full blood lierd herd but when a cross of another breed is introduced further improvement pro becomes uncertain it opposes an established law of heredity and that breeder is loomed doomed to disappointment who runs counter to this law it is unfortunate that this practice has been more or less frequent yet experience teaches that the breeder of grade herds who expects to make progress has only one practical course open and that Is tile the use of sires of one breed and of meritorious ancestry ances and individuality Ilo Ite results have been obtained in the british isles where many high grade herds of shot thorns are maintained both for dairy and beef purposes that compare favorably in individual excellence with the standard of the registered herds this has been accomplished by the care careful bui and d continuous selection or of shorthorn sires and the gradual elimination of the undesirable blood |