STUD NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 86, 4 January 1908, Page 3

STUD NOTES.

• /There seems to'be a . growing opinion (writes , our Wairarapa correspondent) that M6ro attention might be'devoted by. farmers ■ to" the, question of the' services of good, sound ■ and'reliable sires. -This may not be so,much so as regards sheep, but there is no doubt : thai -more care is necessary in the mating of'''horses,' especially draught horses ind .cattle.'. At one time, it was considered proper to.'.use almost'any class 1 of animal which ■couk)"'bo .called a bull. It did not matter "niuch what his breeding waSj or what his pasfc career had been, or if he was diseased or.'not, cross-bred,: pure-bred, or no breed; those, questions did not agitate tho mind of many; a. farmer.. It was ; and .even noiv is, :a : ! custom ■in some districts- for the farmer to b'liy his bull in the public salqyards, and :thc writer instances a case-where' the son of 'a practical. dairy farmer bought a bull in a,-public saleyards for.a.one-pound noto. "And, by . George!" said -the. farmer,, "he was as-good a bull as I ever had.". Still,' tHere, is every rea.soh to believe, r tliat tho farmer acted' With considerable risk; He was endangoring the health of his valuable dairy horclj,and should.have had. the animal ox-amiiied.'-by a . practised veterinarian-. before' putting him into servico. ' Tho trouble is'bad also -in- tho case of draught stallions. There are innumerable instances whero inferior aninials are 'put to stud duty, simply because their- owners do riot 'sufficiently value the qualities' and characteristics' of a good sire. At an agricultural- show, hekl within tho, past , three-years-in the North Island, there \vcre eight ontrics of stallions,, and the judge remarked that' only one animal was without a bleniish. How'often has there been-tho spectacle of a hybrid stallion travelling a' country district at any fee-which farmers liked to otter, and doing big business, while the'. owner of'a £GSO animal,- who had to charge accordingly, might > starve' before lie ivas "accorded- proper support! ' The greatest care .should be takon by farmers in- this important' matter, and if . they study their own. interests, they ' will. .always .patronise, tho. stud/farm which, possesses animals with the best qualifications of breeding, soundness, and a go'od constitution. :AGAINST THE DUAL-PURPOSE COW. Ono of tho most striking illustrations of :ho value of specially -bred' cbws is givon by ihc " l'rairie farmer." It is a picture of ;wo cows:' One- is a • Hblsteinj tho other is evidently a, Shorthorn, dual-purpose animal. riio-Hoistein made a" net profit- from butter if £9 16s. The; Shorthorn mado a net profit )f £3 Ss.The picture shows that, whilo >bo is- a .heefy;-animal.- she- -is 'defectivo in. ;oino - points as-a beef animal. *Now, theT'reatest arguments; of the advocates, of- a lu'aWpurpose cow -is. tliat sli'o is. .suited to'the y-.eat. numbers of/farmers' who 1 are not spcciilty "dairymen -'or-beef breeders, and- who Kant,-an animal .'which will; give s6mo' milk in'd at the same time ■ raise saleable veal salvos or. beef animals.-.. .-Now,' as. every : annet has an interest in butter to soma jxteiit, can lie afford to keep an animal that liakes but £3 Bs. profit from buttor simply j'ecauso'. she 1 will raise a calf the .butchers ivaht?. In other words, would it riot .take.an sxtraordinary calf to make up the difference botween the. Holstein and the-Shorthorn; of EG Bs.'a .year? Then, too, it is, .of course, ;o vbo. remembered' that tho Holstein! would supply a, calf of good size, and if it was a icife'r calf' from such a cow; would it not soramand from' a. - dairyman ' a larger p'rico ;han tho beef calf :of the dual, -purpose iniriial?' In. short, does it pay any farmer ,o keep an animal that loses'him £.6 Bs. iii lairy- product, merely' because she., will bring lim.a.veal of greater value as a'veal than ,ho'dairy cow will?- It seems-.to be simply i .'-business -proposition', and ,it does not natter that-the-fa,rmer is not altogether, a lairyman. If.he is a farmer he certainly ias';s6iiio intorest'in what. a.cow will do in ratter.'—" Canadian Dairyman.