The probability is that it will be better to veal the heifer than to raise her, as most heifer calves twinned with a bull are free martins, or animals of mixed sex and no good for breeding purposes or for profitable milk production.  If the bull is a good animal, he probably will be all right, as this twinning does not seem to affect a bull calf, though it does the heifer.  It does not always happen that the heifer is worthless for breeding, but the probability is so great that you had better have her killed and be done with it.

What Is a “Grade”?

Does the term “grade” mean an animal whose sire is a thoroughbred and whose dam is a scrub, or just one who is selected from others because of her good points or those of her mother?

Roughly speaking, a grade animal is one having more or less pure-bred blood, but not enough, or otherwise too irregular, for registry under the rules of the association of the breed to which it has affiliation.  It does not refer to selection without use of a pure-blood sire at some point in the ancestry, but this is not a distinction of much moment, for it is hard to find animals which have not borrowed something from some cross with pure blood, though remote.  The terms high and low grade are sometimes used to signify amount of pure blood recognizable by form and other characters or remembered by owners or their neighbors.  Generally speaking, a grade is anything not entitled to registry, though ordinarily it refers to the offspring of a pure-bred sire and a cow of another or of no breed.  The offspring of a pure-bred cow and a scrub bull would also be a grade.

Breeding a Young Mare.

I have a beautiful colt 22 months old that will weigh 1200 or 1300 pounds; very compactly built, and has extra health, life and vigor.  I want this colt for a broodmare.  Would you advise breeding at two or three years old?

Authorities agree at placing the age from two to three years, according to the development of the animal and other circumstances.

“To Breed in the Purple.”

What is meant by breeding a sow in the purple?  I have seen this statement used many times by breeders who advertised “sows safe in pig bred in the purple.”

To be “bred in the purple” means to be of royal or princely parentage.  It originally was used in reference to the nobility of Europe, as purple was the insignia of royal blood, due to the fact that purple was the rarest and most costly color and only the rich and noble could buy it.  When used in referring to live stock, it signifies that the animal in question has a long line of blooded ancestry.

Cows for Hill Country.

What breed of dairy cows do you think would be preferable to keep for butter, at an altitude of about 1800 feet, in Nevada county — Jerseys, Guernseys or Ayrshires?  I do not mean to have them to rustle for their own living, but to feed them well, house and care for them in all weather, particularly in stormy weather.