Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


 IMPROVING THE HERD BY SELECTION
 One of the chief reasons for the low production record of cows
in Florida is that dairymen in the past have paid no attention
to improving their herds. They have been content to buy ad-
ditional cows when more milk was needed and to sell cows when
a surplus was produced. To build up a profitable herd and to
do it economically thru careful selection will require at least ten
years. This may seem like a long time, but investigation will
show that the most successful dairymen have been in the busi-
ness for a period much longer than that.
 The work of increasing the productiveness of a dairy herd
thru selection must begin with the individual as a unit. Cows
with the best performance records are mated to a bull backed
by a line of high-producing ancestors. Even this will not guar-
antee offspring equal to their parents in productiveness, since
the law of chance operates to make results uncertain. However,
the average will be as good as their parents, and some will ex-
ceed their dam's record. These better producers are bred for
further improvement.

 INFLUENCE OF THE SIRE
 While it is true that by proper selection" the productiveness of
a herd can be greatly increased, it is not enough that dams with
high-producing records be selected. It is just as important that
sires from heavy producers be chosen. They have as much to


FIG. 20.-A good purebred Jersey sire