THE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 116, 17 May 1924, Page 20

THE LAND.

BREEDING V. FEEDING. A British writer on agricultural topics comments on the methods of the societies that in recent years have been established in Great Britain to increase the capacity of the milk production of the dairy cow. lie points cut that the method that has been adopted is the use of better sires and the breeding from I the more productive cow that is mdi- j catcd by t.ie system of milk recording, | and so enables the owner to select dams | of highly productive dairy capacity. It I is very fully recognised that the use of | the better fire and the definite indica- j tion of the more productive dam have been more than justified by the results, and that up to this point we have apparently satisfied ourselves that the very gratifying improvement has been effected almost entirely by breeding and selection. We in New Zealand cannot fail to be fully aware of the increase of the milk production of the dairy cattle of the herds of the Dominion where milk records are kept, where the cow of high milk production is used with the sire that is the descendant of parents of high capacity. I Now another factor has come in. It is one that imperatively claims attention—it is correct feeding. The figures aro so convincing of the increase of the milk production of herds of dairy cattle that have been correctly fed that the question that presents itself is whether correct feeding is not a greater influence or a larger milk production than selection and breeding. We knor- that feeding, however correct it may be, cannot make productive the cow that is naturally of low milk capacity, and the converse is equally true. The cow of the highest breeding cannot continue to pro- j duce milk to her full capacity unless sho i is correctly fed. ! Whatever the truth may be, it would be a useful trial to make to test the j extent to which milk production is influenced by correct feeding on the one hand and by breeding and selection on the other. It should not be difficult in the Dominion to bring this question of correct feeding to the attention of owners j of dairy cattle. We have very certainly.! through the medium of the system of | herd testing, become able to select ani-1 mals of higher productive capacity for i our breeding stock, but it is very much ; to be questioned if we have generally recognised the very patent fact that if we breed animals of that greater capacity that they must be fed in accordance with that greater result- It would appear that that simple, reasonable fact is entirely overlooked. There is the proof of this. Quite early in the dairy season that it now passed, some weeks were without rain. With the failing grass came the falling milk flow. There was ' no provision for those animals that had been so carefully selected and bred for a greater production. We are breeding, and there are already many dairy cows of great milking power, but are they correctly fed? It may be probably said, Yes, those that are under the -semi-official test, ana they are to provide the sales advertisement to the herd to which they belong. The general and highly-specialised cow of the usual herd takes her chance with the poorest. They still depend, one as the other, on the grass of a few months of the spring-time and early summer. They are but poorly fed for the greater part of the year. They rustle with the cull cow for a bare existence. It may well be questioned: Why breed or keep the better cow? We don't find them more liberally or more correctly fed than the others. It should be remembered that the cows of high milkproducing capacity of the specialised dairy breeds are the outcome of years of , tbe most skilful selection, of careful management, and of correct feeding. The cattle of this class and of these breeds would never have come into bein"but for the feeding. The cow of early maturity and great output of milk demands as careful provision as the elaborated machinery of the modern manufactory. The comparison may not be complete or entirely exact, but the steam engine and the cow are not altogether dissimilar. They axe specialised each in its own way, they provide power, they do this on correctly supplied fuel for the one, and on correct food for the other. An insufficient or unsuitable supply of fuel or of food, lessens the power of the engine and the production of the cow. A more striking illustration may be that of the motor car and the cow. They are the intimates of the family and the farm. The car does not "run unless it is supplied with the correct fuel. It must be of a certain class and in correct proportion. If this does not receive attention the car cannot give its maximum power. It has no reserve. It stops. The cow, up to a certain point, closely resembles the car. The difference is that the cow has a certain reserve. She draws on the flesh of her body when her food is insufficient, and that is the condition of the cattle of many of our dairy herds. At the end of the season the cow is a wreck. So when the Ford, the first specialisation, is brought out for a run, the owner of the cow may possibly remember that, car and cow, each one must be correctly fed to work. Possibly the extent of the consideration that may be extended to the feeding of the specialised cow may lead to the realisation the further ambition—the ownership pf the greater specialisation in i motor cars, the "Rolls Royce," and with I that of the still greater achievement j and specialisation, the herd of productive dairy cattle, the outcome of his I skill in selection and breeding and of his adherence to a correct system of feeding. WHY THE PIG HAS A SNOUT. Note how different are the prehensile organs of the various farm animals. The I Creator furnished each with differently i formed organs b y which food is grasped,! conducted into the mouth, and then masticated. By such provisions many animals of different kinds originally were enabled to live in the same pastures or feeding territories. Were all to gather in exactly the same way sus- I tenance would soon become exhausted. Apart from the domesticated animals consider the special equipment of the' giraffe, elephant, tapir, ant-eater, and hippopotamus for the taking in of food. J. hen compare the prehensile organs of tnL f orß a' .-.' 6heep and I** D ° all _ncL ee *f aLke? mat are the differences, if any? Mc aU Bjmikrt |

.quipped with teeth? Is the lining of the mouth in each identical. We do not intend fully to discuss nil of these things, hut to direct the attention of the beginner to the subject, and interest himself so that he will make exam- j inations for himself. The cow has thick, somewhat immobile lips, whereas the sheep, which is also a ruminant animal, has very mobile lips and the upper one is cleft. The cleft lip enables the sheep to get its teeth right down on the surface to nibble the shortest, sweetest grass. The cow does not use her lips to any great extent in taking feed, as does the horse. She grasps tags of grass with her tongue, draws them into her mouth, jerks them off and chews them slightly, for the feed is later to be brought up and rechewed. The mobile lips of the horse gather the feed, and it is nipped off between the two rows of sharp, J rigid incisor or pincher teeth. Note ' that the cow has eight incisor teeth, in lower jaw only, whereas the horso has six above and below. In the cow and sheep the upper row of incisors is absent, but instead there is a pad or cushion or cartilaginous or gristle tissue, against which the lower incisors hold the grass while it is being torn off. The incisors of the cow normally are somewhat loose, and they are directly iorwsrd or almost hor_oti_:_lly placed in tbe mouth. Were this not 1 lie -ase they would cut the dental pad above. Not aware that the cow's in - L-isors normally are loose, many an tiwncr his on examination erroneously concluded tint a diseased condition is present. Oi.en silage has been blamed for the looseness, but it has no such effect, neither docs it cause the incisors to fall out or break oil. Note, too, that the cow's tpngue is very rough, and so are the cheeks. On' the contrary, the cheeks and tongue of the horse are smooth, studding the cow's cheeks are long projectious or papillae, and the tongue and front parts of tbe hard palate are fitted with sawlike projections. These are parts of the equipment pos-essed by cows to mako perfect mastication of feed possible. Looking further into the cow's mouth it will be noted that the soft palate does not hang down and prevent breathing through the mouth as is the case in the horse. As to the prehensile organs of the hog, note the cartilaginous ring .round the snout, and understand, too, that the snout contains a special bone (os rostri) not present in other animals. These are the provisions for rooting to obtain food from under the surface of the ground. And watch how animals chew. The dog quickly cuts meat to pieces and gulps it down. The horse chews feed slowly and very thoroughly in scissors-like fashion, and largely by lateral action. The cow masticates by longitudinal, transverse and vertical motions. TEXTURE OF THE HIDE. Why is it that in judging an animal, or in picking one to go in the dairy herd, one always examines the skin and hair of the animal? One seldom passes' this over, and an animal with a harsh, dry skin is turned down, while the one with a soft, pliable skin is given the preference? The expert show yard judge during the course of his examination of the animals before him always lifts the liide of each and by the Bense of touch studies the quality of the animal and [letermines by the texture of tho hide md hair that which he cannot see with lis eyes —the strength, power and efficiency of the digestive organs. He realises that the skin of the animal is a continuation of the inner and vital organs, the condition of which is reflected through the outer medium. That these indications are more practical than theoretical any successful feeder will assert, for he has noticed that the first indication that a cow is reaching the limit of her feeding capacity is not when she begins leaving feed in her manger or when her voidings assume an unnatural condition, but when the eye gets lull and when the hair begins standing out from the body and becomes harsh to the touch. If these first warnings are not heeded, then it is that the cow begins leaving her feed, and soon the softness and pliability have left her hide md it becomes tight, hard and stiff. It is true that care and feeding have much to do with the condition of the liide and hair, and likewise they have much to do with affecting the digestive organs. The method of care and feeding that adds tone to the vital organs makes itself known to the touch of the judge. In other words, those parts that .an be seen and felt indicate the condition of the invisible organs rather than i-ice versa. It is, of course, well to secure in one md the same animal both size and power of digestion, but if the necessity presents itself of sacrificing a portion of _ne or the other, then digestive power should have preference. The large--arrelled cow of poor quality will consume a large amount of feed at one time, but because of her sluggishness she will waste a portion of it; but the cow active in digestive traits, eating less it a time but oftener. will eat fully as much, if not more, on the whole, only requiring longer to do so, and she will ■ make better use of it in keeping up the ! condition of her own body and in yield- : ing milk products. " j JOTTINGS. [ The health of animals under any' nan's care depends upon his powers of ' ibservation. While one man will detect ! the very first indications that some- I thing is amiss with an animal, and will : it once look for the cause, another sees '■ .othing until several stages of the ill- j less have been passed. In the case of j ;he man having the gift of observation ' lie smallest change, not only in the ' imount of fool consumed, but the man- | ler in which the food is received, the ! ixpression of the eye, and any one of i nany other slight changes are what he I it once accepts as symptoms which leserve his immediate attention. Sir Daniel Hall believes that all good arming is bound up in correct book.eeping, but it must be the keeping of iccounts with a purpose mainly directed ipon finding out "costs" all round that vill bring success to the holding. ' It is never too early to start plan- ' ling the work of the coming season, -"evote one or two of the long evenings o carefully going over the work of the arm during 192:1, with the object in *iew of seeing whether some changes in >racticc, or some rearrangement of the arm work, will not produce more latisfactory results in 1924.