White Bluffs Spokesman

The Purebred Record Associations of the Dairy Breeds of America

By EX-GOV. FRANK O. LOWDEN of Illinois

THE various breeds of dairy cattle like other farm animals, are the result of centuries of selection. Naturally, in any country or locality those farm animals which proved best suited to the purpose for which they were kept upon the farm were used for breeding. In the course of time the natural result was a specialized animal, which was a vast improvement upon the earlier stock. Thus there were developed in Great Britain the Jersey, the Guernsey, the Ayrshire, the Devon, the milking Shorthorn, and other less well-known breeds. In Holland there was evolved particularly the cow known as the Holstein-Friesian cow. In Switzerland there was the Brown Swiss cow.

During the early history of America, whatever cows happened to be on hand were brought over by the colonists. For a long time in the United States we had just cows. Nobody knew their ancestry, and as was natural in a new country, no one gave any special care to his breeding operations upon the farm. And so it came about that we were well along in the last century before we had anything upon our farms a product of the various early and careless importations.

In a new country, because of the abundance of natural rough feeds, the production of beef antedates the special production of dairy cattle and dairy products. It was therefore in the natural order of things that pure bred beef animals should have received somewhat earlier emphasis than purebred dairy animals.

It would have been possible, I assume, for America to have developed its own dairy breed, employing the same methods which had been employed successfully in the older countries. With mongrel cattle, however, which we had as a foundation, it might have taken a thousand or possibly two thousand years to have developed a breed the equal of the well-established breeds already found in Europe. Our people therefore wisely decided that instead of attempting to create, out of the raw material at hand, an American cow, it would be more sensible to make importations from Europe, thus utilizing the achievements of the European breeders of many centuries. And so today the chief dairy breeds in the United States are all derived from specialized breeds which were developed across the sea. Our indebtedness to the great breeders, especially of Great Britain and Holland and Switzerland, is immense and one which we cheerfully acknowledge.

When, however, the importation of purebred dairy cattle once began, it became necessary to form the purebred associations of the owners of such cattle. Thus there came about the several purebred associations. That these associations have played a most conspicuous part in the development of the dairy cattle of the United States is a fact I think which no one will dispute.

Associations to Preserve Records

The purebred associations in America were formed primarily for preserving the records of the cattle thus imported and their descendants. For this purpose herd books were established. Later all of the dairy purebred associations established advanced registry for recording the production of such cows as their several owners wished to put under the inspection of the associations. This has come to be one of the most important of the activities of the purebred association. It has developed a keen but upon the whole generous rivalry among the owners of cows, both within the same breed and as between the different breeds. The advanced registry work has been a powerful factor in increasing the production of milk and butterfat. It also serves another purpose. In fixing upon the proper type of any farm animal, there is always the danger that too much stress may be laid upon the finer points of conformation without reference to whether or not these points are attended with compensating superiority in performance. The final test, of course, of a beef animal is what it will do on the block, and the final test of a dairy cow is what she will do at the pail. In America many competent critics believe that our tendency has been to emphasize production at the expense of type. At the present time I think the purebred associations are paying more attention to type than at any time in the past. Now, one of the most useful functions of advanced registration is to correct any excess of emphasis we may be likely to put on type. For if the advanced registration should show that cows differing somewhat from the accepted type were to produce milk and butterfat more economically, generation after generation, with power to transmit that quality, we should naturally infer that it would be necessary to revise our ideas of type. Advanced registration, therefore, wisely planned and carried out, can be made a very valuable factor in helping us to determine the ideal type of the dairy cow.

Do Not Limit Themselves

But the purebred associations do not by any means limit themselves to the things above set out. Their most valuable work, from the standpoint of the public, is the vast improvement they are bringing about in the United States for better and more efficient cows. As an article of food, milk is indispensable under modern conditions of civilization, as the scientists tell us. The improved cow means in the end decreased cost of production of this essential food. All of our people therefore profit by the work of these purebred associations. All honor is due to the pioneers of the several breeds who first brought these superior dairy cattle to America.

Several years ago I visited some of the leading breeders of Holstein cattle in Holland. In the house of one I observed upon the wall the portrait of Thomas B. Wales, one of the early secretaries of the Holstein-Fresian Association of America. I had known Mr. Wales when I was a boy, and I asked the owner how he happened to have that portrait, which was one of two upon his walls. He answered that his father had sold Mr. Wales more cattle than he had sold to any other man in all his career as a breeder of Holstein cattle. If the seller of cattle in a foreign land thought it worth while to put a portrait of this pioneer upon his walls, how much more reason have we in America, who have profited vastly more, to hold in memory the names of these early pioneers of the dairy breeds. Their successors, too, who are now carrying on the work of these great organizations are engaged in a fine and useful work. For it is the purebred dairy organizations in America that are making the most persistent and the most effective fight against the scrub cow which still remains in overwhelming numbers upon the farms of America. Calf clubs are being organized all over the country with the encouragement of the purebred organizations. These clubs are composed of boys and girls who through credit which the club is able to furnish become the owners of one or more purebred or high-grade calves. The calf clubs serve a double purpose. Through their activities the dairy cattle of the community begin to improve. It has happened not infrequently that the ownership of the purebred calf by the boy resulted in the father replacing the scrubs upon his farm with good cows. In the second place, it tends to attach the boy or girl to the farm. It adds a new interest and a new worth-whileness to farm life. It is safe to say that the successful breeders and farmers of coming years will be those who are now enrolled as members of boys and girls' calf clubs.

Associations Fight Scrubs

The purebred associations are waging a continual fight against the scrub bull. Through the farm press, through the agricultural colleges, through the Department of Agriculture, and in numerous other ways, they are waging a warfare which will not cease until the last scrub bull is driven from the American farm. Recently in one state a most effective drive has been made by the united forces of the purebred dairy associations and the purebred beef cattle associations. There was no special effort made to press any particular breed, but those in charge of the campaign said to the farmer who had been using the scrub bull: "We don't care what breed you select. If you are engaged in dairying, replace your scrub bull with a purebred dairy bull. If you like the Guernsey best, take a Guernsey bull. If you like the Jersey best, take a Jersey bull. If you prefer the Holstein, the Ayrshire, the Brown Swiss, take it. But if you persist in using the scrub bull, loss and possible ruin await you." The same course was adopted with those who were engaged in the production of beef. This campaign, I am informed, was successful, and will doubtless add to the wealth of the state and the well-being of her citizens. The chief advantage of this kind of campaign, in addition to the fact that in union there is strength, is that it is possible by this method to secure the cooperation of the business interests of the community. For the banker, and the merchant, and the mechanic, and the professional man, in an agricultural community, are all interested in improved farm conditions.

I have not time to cover all the activities of the purebred associations in their efforts to improve the cows of the United States. I am sure, however, I am safe in saying that they are the most powerful factor in the field. Great, however, as their achievements have been in the past, they are but at the beginning of their work if the American farm is to be put upon a secure and profitable basis. The average milk production per cow for the entire country is something like half the average production of the cows of the most advanced dairy countries in Europe. This statement would be inexplicable were it not for the fact that less than 3 per cent, as we are told, of all the dairy cows of America are purebred. The field for improvement, therefore, is vast. The prospect of those who are engaged in this enterprise is inviting and the opportunity for useful service is stimulating in the extreme.