ON THE LAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 305, 8 October 1935, Page 7

ON THE LAND.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

(By “The Tramp.”) Much has been said in the past about the relationship between type and production in dairy cattle. Recent issues of American farming magazines have contained a number of articles on this subject, and the general concensus of opinion would appear to be that type is inadequate when it comes to determining the productive ability thai a bull will pass on to his daughters. The writers agree that type must not be ignored, but claim that productive ability is not to be judged on appearance alone. There is no doubt that the inadequacy of type, as method of appraising the valuing of dairy bulls, is well understood in America. The persons who are most concerned in maintaining “type” and scorecard points, of course, are those who are interested in selling dairy cattle. It is always easy to sell good cattle for a good price, but good cattle are comparatively few and poor cattle are many. Type and pedi-

gree often, therefore, furnish for poor animals the arguments which good animals do not need. Neither dairyfarmers nor others, who keep cows for practical purposes, pay much attention to fancy points. Some time ago “Hoard’s Dairyman” published pictures of a number of dairy cows, offering prizes to those persons who would best judge these cows, and 45,000 answers were received in competition for the prizes. Following this competition, pictures of 11 bulls were published and prizes were offered to those who would best judge the transmitting abilities of these bulls —and there were less than 4500 persons who competed for the hull prizes. Over 40,000 persons were willing to judge cows by their looks, who refused to try to judge the transmitting abilities of the bulls. Apparently these 40,000 persons were of the opinion that it is impossible, by looking at a bull, to discover the dairy qualities of his daughters—and that is interesting, for it shows that dairy-farmers demand something in dairy bulls besides fancy points. Is the Offspring Better? From a. scientific standpoint, it is well-known that good dairy qualities are the result of a favourable combination of genes. We have no knowledge how many genes there are, but it has been shown there are very many, that their possible combinations run into enormous figures, . and that all dairy cattle carry genes for low as well as for high production. A strain of cattle having superior economic value can be maintained, therefore, only by, constant application of the progeny test. Genealogies by themselves have no value, and registration without relation to a progeny test is worthless as an aid to breeding for improved production.

The best bull for a farmer to use is obviously, the bull that, after making due allowance for the inheritance which his daughters receive from their dams, produces the offspring which bring in the highest net income. If, this allowance being made, the offspring are profitable, it is no disadvantage that the sire is not registered. If the offspring are unprofitable, it is no advantage that the sire may be registered. The whole problem is solved when we know what kind of inheritance the bull transmits. When we know what this inheritance is there is no other question to ask.

Judging by Appearance. 'So far as type is concerned, it is well-known that between form and function no relation has yet been found that enables a breeder to distinguish between bulls who do and bulls which do not transmit high production to their daughters. We know that, in general, large animals produce more milk than small ones, that dairy cattle produce more milk than beef cattle, and that small udders cannot hold large quantities of mills. In choosing a bull to head a dairy herd, therefore, there would naturally be a tendency to take one whose daughters were large, which showed no tendency toward beefiness, and which had large udders. Among such animals, however, we have no way to choose, for many poor cows are large, with narrow withers and well developed udders; and many bulls that are unable to transmit profitable production have good type and transmit good type to their daughters. Moreover, the best cow for the dairyman is the one which produces milk at lowest cost, and that is not always a large cow. The significant fact is that one cannot, by looking at a bull, tell what he will transmit to his progeny. As one American writer says: “Since we know that inheritance governing all characteristics is transmitted through the germ plasm, it does not seem possible to tell by the appearance of an animal what its inheritance for production is. Type, then, is not the test of a good sire.’’