THE BETTER HALF OF THE HERD.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1644, 10 January 1913, Page 8

THE BETTER HALF OF THE HERD.

- INFLUENCE OF THE SIRE. A A. wellriatontionod remark that heifer ,-kcalves from xioor milters should not bo • raised calls forth tho,following comment ilrom "Hoard's Dairyman";— , ( •: "flu'iV, that depends altogether whether ,| jou.havo a' strong, prepotent siro behind : that heifor;or not., Such a siro will often produco heavy milkers from low-produo- .. lug-mothers.We havo had the experi-: . , enoo'of: repeated; instances of this kind. The cow,- Sarah of Jefferson,, though a. , " pnrebred Guernsey, could not bo mado to! ■ produce over 2251b. of butter a year., Sho i' Was bred to cthat prepotent sire, Espa- 1 ,: nore 2nd, ..and produced tho heifer, Bernhardt,: that yielded: 4011b. buttor-fnt in :. her first milking period at tivo years of age. » . "Thisnhth'other'facts derived froma -study, of eminent Bires; in our .own .'herd, wh4ro wo havo hred ever?.member of it but one bull and two cows, convinces us : 'that • tho great;?and .preponderating in•finance in shaping : tho character < of .the . coming cow is . tho sire. • There follows, ; then, this conclusion: A poor sire, poor. : qowsj a good sire, good.cows. The dom-' 1 mating influence of the siro is seen very : , clearly in tho,'breeding of grade herds.: • How often do wo soo this shown in tho 1 ■ 'placing-at tho-liead of a mixed lot of: ■ rery medium cows a purebred bull. ' 'Tho resulting heifers in nine cases out of . ten' show tthe,,blood,'of the sire, and tho lmprovelnont of .their ,milking:qualities. .' over their scrub mothers! 'also demonstrates it. i ~. "Keep - right, on - with.- theso heifers, • ; breeding .them, and their, descendants to • ,purebrcd .stres:m,the sanio line, with conand m a few,years you have a.herd of. - .' great producers at-the paiL The great | difficulty in this hiatter is that fanners • • and many brceders-'even:'rdt>-not -vahio.; •high enough'themmportanco.of ,j ... fin making a. selection by . purchase, the, i -.'over-ruling " considera fioii ~',yi th. them is '' ' r.ot -i rather tKo rovCTse. 'j: 'i * "As farmers advances their ability to. j produce cows that-will, respond most pro- ( r atably to good fod and care, they will .j find that the greatdetermmiiiff riower at • the outset'lies in . the prepotent, weeding. : . power of thei sire.Of. course.'it is.",a' , : BomewhatT(lifficult "thing .;to" alivayi.select: .] such a sire,. but a very good rule is to - ohooso from those herds where (the best :. breeding methods havo'been , used, andi •''where'-the.brcedof^posseSses.^pride.andja, ,■ high'degroo 'of conscience in his work. , , Witlrsnch mon, a poor sire.,will never;bc, , eont out,to lower their reputation, if they -!i 7,'< A*WINNER OF COMPETITIONS. 3 The Egg-.Uyniff competiljons for .MlMl ' , and 1011-12iwete(,both.won;hy pelis.reared *: on "A. and : Chicks Raiser., . : The first J essential, for., profitable poultry, keeping. J Obtainable 1 from '-all- Storekeepers;—Advt. • * 9 " \ € -.1