of purchases made, descriptions of our herds and telling of winnings made in competitions at different stock shows. We don't beleve in the uninteresting monotonous card advertising, but find that our illustrations or cuts used in advertising columns entitled "I am A. Christian" and the hog cut, "Meet me face to face," and another, "I am the Big A. B. C. kind," etc., attract attention of purchasers, and we are confident that we receive ten times the replies.

Spasmodic advertising, while possibly not an entire waste of money. is not as effective as continuous advertising. Where the average ad. vertiser usually makes a failure is when he secures the inquiries he does not follow them up in a systematic, convincing manner, and we find no better way than personal form letters in whch we give best reasons why it is to their interest to buy our pure-breds, and in every letter insert order blanks, fac-simile letters written us by satisfied customers, and, try to describe in an interesting way how we conduct the breedng farms, the manner of mating, telling of the years of experience, of the five breeders and show ring judges who have made a life long study of breeding scientifically and the proper care of stock, producing a most perfect conformation in blood lines that are most popular with good breeders.

Selling by mail by the use of personal follow-up from personal letters we know has been the means of selling our pure-breds to breeders from the Mississippi to Utah and from Texas to Canada. Too many breeders think that the insertion of an advertisement will sell their stock, and their lack of ability to convince or interest a buyer in the first letter is no good cause for the breeder to quit writing. We find the form letter method of selling pure-bred cattle and hogs by mail order is the very best and most successful plan and by far the cheapest, and to prove this we call attention to the fact that although we have two large separate herds of Aberdeen-Angus and three separate herds of Poland-China in all our years of breeding we have never yet had a public sale of stock, preferring our plan as being the most satisfactory, not only to ourselves, but to the purchaser who saves expense of a trip, does not have to leave home, but can buy through the mail just what he is looking for and wants a reasonable price under a guarantee that protects him.

Every breeder should learn how to write his own field notes. If a breeder is incompetent to write field notes, we can't understand how he can write a good descriptive, convincing letter that will make his prospective purchaser understand just what is being offered and at a reasonable price.

Make your letters short and to the point. We think it better to send six letters to a prospective purchaser, mailing a week apart, and each cover. ing a special point, than to write a great long letter and try to cover all six points.

Fifty dollars worth of advertising in a standard good farm publication can be made to sell hundreds of dollars of stock if you will give a little thought and study to "how to write letters that will interest, convince and sell pure-breds by mail order." This plan has worked so suc

cessfully that 90 per cent of our sales are made through the mail, and have for past few years received "repeat orders" from satisfied customers for which we credit account to what advertisers term "accumulative advertising."

Show me the breeder who gives little attention to advertising and I will show you a breeder who thinks there is ittle to advertising.

It is absolutely necessary for every breeder to give time, study and thought to how best to advertise and sell stock, and no matter how good a breeder you are, to make a success it is necessary to advertise.

ON BREEDING UP THE HERD.

MAJORITY OF BREEDERS BARELY HOLDING THEIR OWN WHILE
ONLY ONE OUT OF FOUR ARE RAISING THE STANDARD
OF TYPE AND QUALITY.

"Breeding Up the Herd" was the subject of an address by Robert D. Mousel, the Hereford cattle breeder at Cambridge, Neb., delivered at the Nebraska Improved Live Stock Breeders' meeting at Lincoln. "This subject," he said, "should be conservatively considered. As the point of profit or loss depends entirely upon the method of breeding up and maintaining a pure bred herd, making them a source of profit should be our chief pursuit. In order to be successful it will be necessary to properly breed up the herd to the highest degree possible.

"One of the first problems to be considered is determining the breed best suited to your location, conditions and liking. Any of the beef breeds, if properly cared for, will bring profitable returns. If you are breeding beef cattle, be sure you have the beef-type and stay with it. We are now in an age of specialties. The American meat eaters today demand the rib roast or porter house steak from a prime well finished bullock of an animal of proper conformation which none other can amply furnish but a beef type; while, on the other hand, the butcher demands one of the same type and wants him to furnish in abundance meat from the most valuable cuts. This point should be kept well in mind by the breeders and producers of beef.

"One notable fact I have learned in attendance at some of the largest stock shows and expositions, especially in the feeders' department in such shows as the International and the Denver shows, is the grouping of corn belt feeders. Discussing the sort of feeders for which they were looking, one will say 'I am going to have the type and quality I am looking for even if I am compelled to pay a premium of fifty cents or a dollar a hundred.' Another will say 'there is a load of large rough feeders 1 would hardly take home as a gift. We used to think they were O. K., but things are different now. We have plenty of cribs for corn." Yes, things have changed. New conditions and new methods have come to take the place of old ones, and in order to be successful we must submit to them.

"In breeding up the herd we should endeavor to improve our cattle and our methods of caring for them each year. This point seems invariably to be abused. I have come to the conclusion that only about 25 per cent of all the breeders of pure bred stock are really improving the breed; they are raising the standard, while the other 75 per cent are barely holding their own, or probably are deteriorating. More than likely the latter. I wonder how many at this meeting are following the latter course. If there are any, I say to you, get out of the rut. Don't

be a tail-ender any longer. Following such methods is apt to make the pure bred breeding business a drudgery. If you are a breeder of pure bred stock, do not be satisfied with the ordinary sort, but make your herd a source of pleasure as well as profit. Keep the best possible. Keep a high-class herd bull that has the prepotency to transmit his characteristics to his progeny, assisted by a herd of good matronly large growthy cows with plenty of scale and bone of uniform smooth thick-flesh beef type. With such a herd you will be able to compete with your fellow breeder.

'Each year's calf crop should be rigidly sorted. Inferior bull calves should be converted into steers. The females should be dealt with accordingly; while those selected for breeding purposes should have good treatment with plenty of good feed to keep them growing. I find that a great amount of time and attention should be given the calf, especially after weaning. I find that what is usually lost in growth is scarcely ever regained. They should have plenty of roughness of good quality with some grain, such as oats or barley, with a mixture of bran and corn chop. But by all means, do not crowd them on grain, especially corn. Calves to be properly developed should have plenty of exercise. This makes them very rugged and hardy. Experience has taught me that the best feeders are calves that have the run of the pasture with their dams with but little or no grain whatever, until they reach the age of about four months. Even if you expect to develop show animals of them I find this is the best method. With plenty of grass or hay with their mother's milk, they develop strong digestive organs in proper shape to respond to feed. I find more bloom on calves cared for and finished under this kind of treatment than any other method.

"As a rule, bull calves can be put on a grain ration at a younger age than heifers as they usually take more exercise than heifers. If cared for in this way, the bulls will weigh from 900 to 1,100 pounds at one year and be ready for market. Calves pushed for show purposes should probably weigh from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds at one year. The females should be kept growing, as a breeding herd of large thick smooth cows is very essential. But do not breed females too young. They should not bring a calf under twenty-eight months. Some register association will not record a calf from a dam under twenty-seven months. This rule appears to me as a just one.

"Keep your herd in bloom. Do not keep more cattle than you can take care of well and keep them in fine condition. Then they will give your customers a good impression. They will start to advertise you on the spot. They should be kept in an attractive condition at all times. Usually your customer's first remark is that he would like to see your herd bull, and if he is a good individual and has the proper breeding, your customer is anxious to select a good bull calf or a few females by him or something bred to him. If your bull is worthy of being called onehalf of the herd, you yill find him the greatest salesman on the farm. He has his owner beaten a city block.

SEASON FOR CALVING.

"I find the most profitable calves are those that come along in January or February. As a rule, they are ready for grass when spring comes and the dams give an abundance of milk, and by July 1, just before flies become bad, wean them. This gives the mother ample time to get into good flesh before cold weather sets in. This leaves her in fine condition for her next calf. Once every twelve months is often enough for a cow to produce a calf. She cannot do justice to herself and calf without a reasonable amount of rest. Having your calves come in January or February, you can usually get your cows bred again before you turn them out in pasture. This saves a great amount of time and labor and you are less apt to have any miss getting in calf.

THE SELECTION OF A HERD BULL.

The selection of the herd bull is one of the difficulties a breeder has to contend with. Breeders differ in their opinion as to what really con stitutes a typical herd bull. Some will select a bull because he has an ideal head, others because he has a certain sire or pedigree; while still others will choose one because he has great length or bone.

'Select an animal that suits. Then, if his pedigree is right, buy him He should possess an ideal beef type with great, strong bone, thick flesh and smoothness, with a feeder's head, a masculine character, with a good wide deep body and two good ends. You can get them too long, but I have failed to get them too wide.

"Has it ever occurred to you that a large percentage of those unusually long bodied bulls are very short in quarters? I prefer a bull with length, but he must possess thickness and he must possess length and be deep in quarters as well as in body. A long body with short quarters does not set well up in the shoulders. You will invariably find a well sprung rib in a thick beef type animal. Avoid patchiness. Get them as smooth as possible and covered with a heavy soft coat of hair. It will depend largely upon his condition as to the extent of his advertising possibilities.

"A word as to the breeder's character. He should be strictly honest and upright, represent his stock exactly as they are, be friendly to his brother breeders, whether or not he breeds the same breed of cattle, and boost. If your friends go to the fairs and win, boost, and then each year come to these annual meetings with your brother breeders, get your shoulder to the wheel, and then we will all boost."