BUILDING A DAIRY HERD.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1767, 4 June 1913, Page 10

BUILDING A DAIRY HERD.

. ' QUESTION OF BREED. - j In the opinion'of E. It. Stockwell, of tho Oregon Agricultural College, the solection of the breed is not the all-im-portant point in starting a dairy herd. In speaking about this subject, some time ago,-he said: "The first question that arises in starting a dairy nerd is that of breed. The tendency is to attach too importance' to this matter as influencing tho success of the venture. Some consideration must bo given to tho purpose for which tho product is to bo used. "It is impossible to givo data that is satisfactory as to the relative production of .'the different breeds. Tlio best figures 'available «re thoso reported from •experiment stations in the United States, of - animals owned by them.'" He then quoted figures showing the average milk production anil percentage of butterfat a year for Holsteins, Jerseys, Guernseys,, and Ayrshiros.- l ? or instance. 85 Holsteins averaged 87991b. milk, and 83 tested-' averaged 3.-15 per- cent, fat ; 153 Jerseys averaged 550111b. milk and 151 tested averaged 5.14 per cent, fat; 17 Guernseys averaged 55091b. milk, and 21 tested averaged 1.98 per_ceut. fat while 21 Ayrshiros averaged G5351b. .milk, nnd .3,Bs'per'cent. fat. "Tho general plan to bo followed in building up a dairy herd naturally will depend upon conditions such as tho purpose in view, tho knowledge of tho business, the.resources at hand, and so on. "Thero are two 'way.! of getting a herd together; to. buy the animals, which requires no'small amount of capital,, and i g difficult, or, probably the best way, to breed them. ' It may possibly be a'dvisable to buy some good foundation stock, and at various times pick up a good nnimalwhen possible. I believe, liowe.ver, the most successful herds have been bred and reared by their owners. "The two things to bo emphasised in building up a herd are, first, the selection of the herd bull, and second, tho elimination of the unprofitable cows by keeping records of production of each."