THE COMMERCIAL HERD.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 80, 16 January 1936, Page 8

THE COMMERCIAL HERD.

CONSISTENCY OF RECORD.

ALL-ROUND IMPROVEMENT. ■

Nature does not like the abnormal, and the good breeding animal does not generally come from the record-break-ers, although there are, of course, exceptions. A racing aeroplane engine is not of much use in a motor bus, and the record-breaking cow is out of her element in the commercial herd. Where are the bulls to improve the herd to be found? Find out the average yield of a first r class herd of any breed which has not been oyerforced for production. Then as a mother of your bull look for a cow that has consistent records within a range of 150 to 200 gallons on either side of that. The consistency of her records will ensure that she lias not worried the vet. ' \ Early maturity has been hinted at as a possible indication of aS short life and it is here that one of the dangers of too literal dependence on the proven sire lies. It is not impossible that provenness, to coin a new word, may in some cases be a sign of early maturity unless the investigations are carried beyond the first lactation. Apart from this however, the mere fact that a sire's daughters have averaged high and more than their dam is°not a true criterion of his worthy There are two more questions to be asked. First, are the daughters' records even, or are they widely spread? A sire's daughters may average gallons with a spread from 300 gallons to 1500 gallons, or they may average 875 gallons with a spread from 750 to 1000 gallons. The latter is much more likely to lead to herd improvement Second, do his daughters look hke wearing well? Have they decently shaped bags and conformation? Jn other words, would you be satisfied with a herd of them?