Show URGE OPERATIVE cooperative CO BULL associations from the united states department ot or agriculture A operative cooperative co bull association Is ft a farmers organization the chief purpose of which is the joint ownership and use of high class purebred bulls the association also may encourage careful selection of cows obtain better prices for dairy products introduce better methods of buying and selling cattle work for improved saul sanitary tury conditions dit ions intelligently fight contagious diseases of cattle and lg ig many other ways assist the dairy business the owners of small herds of grade cows often feel that they cannot afford to purchase valuable purebred bulls in consequence they buy scrubs or breed their cows to a scrub bull or an ail inferior purebred bull on some nearby farm one year a holstein bull may be used the next year a jersey and occasionally a bull of no particular breeding the wor word of the cooper co oper nilve bull associations makes it possible tor for any farmer to own a share in a purebred bull of high quality A bull association in its simplest conn may consist of three farmers who together purchase three good registered bulls of the same breed each farmer keeps one of these bulls for two years at the end of which time the bulls are exchanged to prevent inbreeding for the same reason a second exchange is made at the end of four years in this way by paying the purchase price of only one bull each member of the association has A 11 ENDYMION 11 GRAND CHAMPION WISCONSIN BULL the use of good purebred bulls for six years A larger membership in the association may either reduce expenses or make possible the purchase of better bulls ideal association the ideal association Is composed of a much larger number of farmers it jointly owns five bulls divides its territory into five file breeding blocks and assigns one bull to each bloch block As many as 50 or CO 60 cows may belong to the farmers in each block and the bull Is kept on some farm centrally located the blocks are numbered from one to five and every two years the bulls are moved forward to the next nest block if all the bulls live and are retained until each has made one complete circuit no new buls have to be purchased during a period of ten years As soon as the daughters freshen evidence of the sires true value begins to accumulate this is the only true test lest of a bulls real value but it I 1 Is self evident that this test cannot be applied until the bull approaches the age of four years in ordinary farm practice bulls are usually disposed of before their true value can be known the operative cooperative co bull association makes it possible to obtain several years service from bulls that tran transmit swit desired qualities and to eliminate all others cost divided the orl original 9 inal cost of the five bulls and their annual cost of maintenance are usually divided among the members of the association according to the number of cows owned by each records Ite cords on file in the dairy division of the department show that the members of associations now organized are getting the services of these high class purebred bulls at an average cost considerably less than they formerly paid for the services of scrub bulls or registered bulls of doubtful merit many farmers in maryland michigan and minnesota when questioned regarding the value of operative cooperative co bull associations estimated that the use of 09 sires belonging to the association it ir creased the value of the offspring in the first generation from 30 to 80 per cent the average of these estimates estimate was 65 per cent the educational work of each association makes the members alert to prevent the introduction and spread of disease of any kind the well managed bull association requires that all cattle belonging to its members shall be tested for tuberculosis find and takes every known precaution to prevent the introduction of contagious abortion it Is greatly to the advantage of a operative cooperative co association that it be incorporated corp orated under state laws this facilitates cili elli tates the transaction of business 1 equitably distributes responsibility tty and gives the organization greater prestige in the community operative cooperative co bull associations have been common in denmark for many years but the first associations of the kind in the united states were organized in 1008 by the michigan agricultural college in this country their growth has not been rapid but ns as a rule they have been highly successful if skillfully managed they may be made a great factor in the ing of profitable dairying in this country |