I am going to attempt a flow chart to show how every mainstream AI sire in the USA today (plus many other countries) is descended from Secret Signal Observer, bred by High Lawn Farm in MA, born 1955, the result of linebreeding to the bull Imported Jersey Volunteer.

The "Volunteer" line was well established prior to the birth of "SSO".     The famous Brampton herd in Ontario had the cow "Imported Brampton Basilua" who made a continental lactation record and was an integral part of their breeding herd (her son "Brampton Basileus" serving as a main herdsire -- his numerous male offspring all had "Basil" as a suffix to identify their descent).   This unique cow was sired by Estella's Volunteer, an early "Volunteer" line sire.   Eventually descending from old "Basilua" were Favorite Commando, sire of the powerhouse Marlu milkwagons like Marlu Milady, and Tristram Lord Basil, the flagship sire of the "Tristram" bloodline from Oregon to Wisconsin.

What made "SSO" a bit different was the influence of Afteglow's Observer as a maternal line sire against which "Volunteer" sire lines were crossed.    So in spite of a bit of passive relationship among various "Volunteer" lines-- as will be mentioned later-- "SSO" still acted as somewhat of an outcross. 

"Volunteer" breeding became very popular in the East, as a result not only of Welcome Volunteer's use at High Lawn (after his purchase from Victory), but also due to Brigham's use of June Volunteer Confident (from Volunteer Confident Buddy) and Ogston's use of Brigham Volunteer Hallam  (from Volunteer Dipsy Standard). They were recognized as a premier "milk" line with somewhat variable type characteristics but good stamina.  This blood is a major part of the pedigree behind "SSO".   Next largest influence is Afterglow's Observer (note both his grandsires, Welcome Volunteer and Observer Blonde Signal, are from his daughters).  Today, we would give him a fairly high inbreeding coefficient but in his era, linebreeding was the norm.   His pedigree would look mild compared to many "Sybil" bloodline animals (descendents of Sybils Gamboge) whose followers were avid linebreeders.  

Secret Signal Observer got his chance at High Lawn due to their admiration for his then-outcross dam, Observer Signal Lady Jean, who came to them in dam in 1948 as a result of their purchase of Welcome Lady Jean along with her sire, Welcome Volunteer.     She scored Very Good and produced a creditable lifetime of 76974m 5.5% 4258bf in seven calvings, most of which were heifers (as of December 2000 an estimated 173 lineal descendants of "Lady Jean" have been registered).   Her dam was the yearling national class leader for milk in 1946, producing 13047m 4.8% 631f in 305 days at 1-11 for Victory Farm, adding measurably to the outstanding tested sire rating for her sire (that contributed to the reasons he came to High Lawn Farm).     

"SSO" had steady service at High Lawn as one of several herd sires retained to represent individual cow families Mrs Wilde admired and wished to maintain as "cow lines" to produce bulls.   He was eventually leased to ABS and sent to their western AI center, but the bull actually got homesick, quit producing semen until he was sent back to High Lawn.   As a result he shows 114 daughters in 62 herds on his last USDA summary.   It is reasonable to say that his entire AI influence today comes from two sons, working into the Jersey heartland from each coast until they had covered every cow worth mentioning.   These two sons are: Observer Chocolate Soldier and SS Quicksilver of Fallneva.

Observer Chocolate Soldier was bred at High Lawn, born in 1960, sold into the Maine Breeding Cooperative (Henry Black from Briarcliff was on their sire committee and championed this bull, using him in his  herd) and ended his AI career with the Eastern AI Cooperative (now part of Genex/CRI).   He was from the ubiquitous "May" family at High Lawn that has produced the majority of High Lawn herdsires in AI, all the way back to Welcome High Lawn Torono, the sire of "SSO".  "Chocolate Soldier" has an additional cross to Welcome Volunteer from his maternal grandsire.     "Chocolate Soldier" was somewhat compact in length but had great power in the front end, and proved to be a great mating when used against Milestones Generator.

SS Quicksilver of Fallneva was bred in Nevada, born in 1962 as a result of AI service from "SSO"s brief career in ABS.   His dam was linebred to Sybil's Gamboge whose descendents had dominated Jersey breeding in many areas, but also had three of four great-grandsires from Volunteer sires, other than Signal Estella Volunteer.  So in some broad sense "Quicksilver" was more linebred than "Chocolate Soldier".      "Quicksilver" sired unusually high butterfat% for a milk bull, an open frame, somewhat sloppy udders, and was a great cross against "Sleeper" breeding and the less angular "Milestone" blood.

TIMING CAN BE EVERYTHING

In the 1970s the mainstream of Jersey AI was saturated with Marlu Milestone and Advancer Sleeping Jester blood, with some contribution from descendants of Tristram Lord Basil and Favorite Commando and a raft of Brigham-bred bulls of the Volunteer-Advancer crosses.   Around this time we discovered the "Commando" line had the *Limber Leg recessive and the "Tristram" line had *Recto-Vaginal Constriction, so there were two major milk lines of acceptable type knocked out of AI circulation.   Searching for an "outcross" milk line for AI matings, the breed discovered the two "SSO" brothers, and the rest is Jersey history.  

Sire lines from Observer Chocolate Soldier

Sire lines from SS Quicksilver of Fallneva

WHERE IT GETS COMPLICATED

J S Quicksilver Royal is a "Quicksilver" son, from a "Chocolate Soldier" dam.   His main son, "Alf", has four close-up crosses to "SSO" in his pedigree.   In the case of "Royal" you had extensive foreign usage, where he appears to have worked better than in the USA, with this result:

          Downline from "QS Royal" in New Zealand                                                                 son:  Judds Admiral    (sire of Glenariff Ads Panache, Willand Ads Samuel, Homestead Ernest)           son:  Crescent Royal Charles  (sire of Rivers Imperial SJ3, Alchiston Charlies Lad, Cresent CRC Shindler)    These bulls are sires and/or maternal grandsires to a large percentage of recent LIC-NZ Jersey sampling sires.

Highland Magic Duncan  is a "Quicksilver" son from a "Generator"dam, but a "Chocolate Soldier" grandam.   His son Highland Duncan Lester  has an EHV Noble dam, but a "Chocolate Soldier" grandam, total of three "SSO" crosses.

The two Yankee Chief daughters, "Althea" and "Barb", both have "Quicksilver"/"QS Magic" dams.   Likewise, Berretta is from a cow whose paternal grandam is a "Chocolate Soldier" and maternal grandam is a "Quicksilver".

Those Molly Brook brothers "Fair", "Fabulous", "Fusion", "Fantastic" etc. are "Berretta" sons of "Lester Fabulous" or her famous dam "Flower" so they count up six crosses to "SSO" between sire and dam.   There is a full-USA blood "Flower" bull active in Australia, Denmark, and Canada; for them they are outcrosses, and their evaluations reflect the "hybrid vigor" against their previously closed cow populations as much as any genetic superiority.    For the future vigor of the breed they need to value their own bloodlines that possess complementary traits to the SSO sire lines, rather than trust to the unsubstantiated possibility of turning "hybrid vigor" into a sustainable genetic advantage in later sire generations...    Otherwise, the only surviving sire lines under Interbull rankings will be USA-based lines.

Outcrosses to Secret Signal Observer???

There is not much left, and most of what is left reposes in cows; as they pass on, this uniqueness of pedigree will pass with them.   We encourage any breeder who recognizes he has such a cow to be particular in her remaining matings, to preserve both her trait quality and her gene uniqueness.

The goal of Breeders Choice Sires has been to approach this in four ways:   (1) preserve sons of more recent bulls/cows that have no "SSO" at all in their pedigrees:     Master Milestone C/ Master C Tops:  Vaucluse Sleeping Surville/Jodys Imperial Surville/Meadowlawn J Imperial:  Gil Bar Unique Sparkler:  Beauty Doris Master/Nabdon Master Patrick:   ISNZ Beldene Dukes Landy.   (2) develop bulls, while having maybe SSO descent through "Quicksilver", have no "Sooner" blood  --  and likewise.   (3) expand the distribution of bulls, such as the NorthCoast Group, who are interested in preserving lines whose phenotypes are different from the mainstream (ie, more strength, wider frame, longer teats, higher test%s, lower SCS, polled heads) and thereby offer different gene persistencies even though they may have some similarity in ancestral origin.    (4) encourage Canadian and Danish and New Zealand and Island breeders to maintain some of their breeding cattle free from SSO influence imported from the USA, in spite of aggressive AI promotion due to Interbull rankings, so as to preserve future sire line variety in the Jersey breed.

"But so many of these sires are minus PTA..."

How much courage do you have?   New sire lines will not fall from the sky.   They have to be developed from whatever exists on the earth.   This means we either go back to old bulls with some semen floating about, and try to breed sons from current cows; go to foreign countries (Denmark or New Zealand have major Jersey populations) and hunt for their best native blood sires; or we take the milkiest daughters of "type" bulls, linebreed them, and sample enough sons to maybe get another "Generator".   Dr McDaniels in his research for the AJCA predicted this could be successful, in a three generation process.

Pedigree tells us what ancestors contributed to the bulls we are using.   It does not necessarily tell us what genes were passed to the next generation, at point of conception.   For those concerned they may be suffering inbreeding effects in their herd (stillborn calves, weak immune function, lower fertility, frail physiques, shorter herdlife) it is worth considering use of the Weeks Analysis ("aAa" Breeding Guide) as a tool to develop matings in your herd that result in "balance" of trait characteristics essential to a full functional lifetime in your Jerseys.   "aAa" reads the phenotype of the animal to tell you what trait tendencies are there, and suggests what mating phenotype will compensate for those tendencies.   It will protect you from inbreeding effects even as you use some bulls who raise your inbreeding coefficients.   It does this by balancing "Round" substance characteristics against "Sharp" angularity characteristics, so you avoid going too far in a single trait direction.   "Sharp" characters add dairy habits and performance enhancement, whereas "Round" characters add substance and stamina to the physique.   You obviously need both if you want a cow (or bull) to perform over a full lifetime.  "aAa" has simply found a way to quantify this in matings, based upon fifty years of observation by a group of independent breeders who maintained regular contact with each other under the guidance of Mr Bill Weeks of Vermont.

What do we really learn from the extensive influence of Secret Signal Observer?

We learn that he is the most influential sire in modern Jersey pedigrees, all out of proportion to his AI exposure (limited) and the contemporary breeding ability of his daughters.   Like many good sires that history now labels "great", he had opportunity as a result of being used by two breeders (Mrs Wilde at High Lawn; Ritter and Gonzales at Fallneva) cognizant of the process which produces and develops useful sires (linebreed the bull, within a line that has traits you are seeking, and then mate him to outcross females needing those traits).    His sons "Soldier" and "Quicksilver" had an even better opportunity, through broad AI exposure (within the first generation of Jersey sires that we could use from frozen semen within AI systems that had geared up to offer national distribution), but their key advantage came from timing because the breed was looking for a non-*LL, non-*RVC non-skim milk "outcross" source that could sire sons for AI young sire sampling with good indexes, and these two fit the bill on all counts.   They followed "Generator" and "Sleeping Surville" and each found a niche as a successful mate against one of those sires of mainstream pedigree saturation.   It all came together to allow these two to dominate the sire listings, even though other sires contemporary to them (Gramhil Leader Sophia Samson, Favorite Saint, HL Pompey Morgan, Noblemans Lotus Designer) had similarly high index levels but did not succeed in producing sons that could hold our attention, for whatever reasons.

The irony is that we probably should give the "May" family at High Lawn credit for the success of old "Chocolate Soldier" and the "Quartz" cow at Fallneva (prominent in the pedigree of Willrich Mercury *LL who was a great sire of lifetime milk) credit for the success of old "Quicksilver".   Udders came from the "May"s, with milk in them, and Frames came from "Quartz", with solids in them.   Old SSO did the job he was asked to do-- produce useful breeding progeny from two unique cows.   In the chauvinistic world of dairy indexing, sire lines get all the credit even though the dams did at least half the genetic "work".   When we look at the myriad male descendents of SSO, certainly it becomes clear that they are all about as good as the cows from which they come; likewise, if we are to found an outcross line to give us some escape from the vagaries of linebreeding to old SSO, it will depend upon using many sons of unique and relatively unrelated cows that possess traits to complement the SSO influences, once we identify what those may be.   SSO's dam after all had seven calvings, and we seem to recall only a 1955 bull calf-- Secret Signal Observer (although 173 females were registered to this date from his sisters)-- and we only recall him from two sons, not from any daughters who founded families of any prominence.   His dam, therefore, was not so much a great cow but a source of fertility and a great mate for the related Welcome High Lawn Torono bull who we know sired both sons and daughters of breeding merit.

We need to get more comfortable with linebreeding

SSO is the result of linebreeding synergy, as are those more successful of his descendants that keep his sire line in play.   He is proof, similar to the Ayrshire bull Selwood Betty's Commander and the Holstein bull Pawnee Farm Arlinda Chief, that linebred animals can be the most consistent producing dairy animals.   He is also proof that you need other, unrelated lines of females, to bring out the latent greatness in any sireline for the broad commercial AI users.   This is why so many erudite breeders, for example Lyle Hunsberger (Lyrene Guernseys), felt that a great cow who produced a great breeding son would rarely have more than ordinary daughters, and the great cow who birthed great daughters would rarely herself produce a great son.   I think this has to do with the relationship of the cow to the general population of in-vogue sires.   I do know Lyle bred some of the best sires the Guernsey breed ever had, so I hesitate to question his opinions (especially with what we are learning about mitochondrial genes).