Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 April 1920 — STOCK LISTED BY COUNTIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

STOCK LISTED BY COUNTIES

Most Desirable for Communities to Concentrate on Production of Few Breeds. (Prepared by the United States Department of Agriculture.) In the nation-wide campaign to iromote the general use of purebred sires and better live stock, the United States department of agriculture will keep records of the agricultural counties according to the breeds of live stock which predominate in them. Practical experience has demonstrated the desirability of committees concentrating on the production of only a few breeds and types of the different classes of live stock. Such management not only enables the individual farmers to aid each other in improving and upgrading their stock, but also gains for the communities wide reputations as centers for certain breeds. The raising of several dominant breeds in any community makes that locality the mecca for prospective purchasers who are desirous of buying animals of those breeds, and also makes it possible for buyers to obtain stock in large quantities. For the service of persons interested in examining or selecting live stock, the department will keep a record of the dominant breeds and varieties of the different kinds of live stock in each county where such Information is obtained from accurate and dependable sources. Pending future developments in this work, a breed or variety will be considered dominant if 100 or more good purebred sires of that breed or variety are owned and used for breeding in a county. Sources of information concerning these farm animals will Include county agents, officials of state agricultural colleges, and representatives of state boards of agriculture. The depart-

ment requests that State and county live stock associations transmit figures and all data available on the purebred sires of their region to their local, county agent or the state agricultural college. This material should include a statement of the number of purebred sires In the county, together with the date when the Information was gathered. Initiative in collecting and reporting these data rests entirely with the county and state officials. Information gathered In this way by the department of agriculture will be available to the public. Thus per-

sons wishing to purchase any kind of live stock may ascertain readily what counties in the United States, according to the records, have purebred sires of the various breeds in which they are interested. Naturally where as many as 100 purebred sires are used in a community, these herd headers will stamp their quality to a considerable extent on the live stock of that county and lead to the production of many desirable grade females, as well as purebred stock of both sexes. Furthermore, in counties where a certain breed is considered dominant, even though there are less than 100 purebred sires, such facts should be reported and will be kept as supplementary records.

Only Good Purebred Bulls of Known Breeding Value Should Be Used in Upgrading Their Stock.