THE STUD BILL.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12343, 27 August 1903, Page 2

THE STUD BILL.

To the Editor* ' Sir,— Some two or three, months agaj the Agricultural Department (!ht a draft Bill to the various branches of the Farmers' Union' thrdiighoulk the country asking 1 for an expression . .of opinion; concervung^ same. Th.e ; rßp!Ues, judging by the press reports, Jseem,' in most cases to be favourable to it, yet strange to say, those branches belong? ing to this' part of the* country express disapproval of the* Bill, sayi!ki& in fact thaf it is -unnecessary. As the object of the measure is to prohibit the use or employment of constitutionally unsound sires, I personally am at a loss to see why anyone should object, miuch less a farmer whose - chief desire should be -to produce strong, robust, and healthy stock* ' It of course does not always follow ihat an affected sire, will beget affected stock, yet on the principle that "like produces like " and that sire invariably stamps the offspring, it is, to say the i«.>ast of it, a dangerous experiment, and one that should not beialldwecir "While writing, upon this subject I may perhaps :bo permitted to point, out the evils resulting from breeding from unsuitable animals also, and to make a suggos- , tion re the same. A man buys in .one lot say idnlf a "dozea heifers at * the saldyards,'- four of these are' probably good average cattle, the remaining, two are virtually good for no thing but the butcher, -what does he do ? He ininlvariably resells them wihen about to calve, and also sells their heifer calves, if such were born, thus in reality intensifying the evil, by, propagating the breed. I would therefore suggest that in addition to the Stud Bill , being, awelcomed measure, the Government bo> asked to devise some means .to; i»ave unsatisfactory heifers speyed, ' which would, together with the employment of first rate bulls among the remainder 1 bring 'the milking herds of this pro-^ vince to a high standard of excellence.— I am, etc.,

F. JSISLR.