SCRUB COWS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 258, 24 July 1908, Page 3

SCRUB COWS.

FURTHER REPLY FROM MR. BUCHANAN. (To the Editor.) Sir,—ln Mr. Prouse's letter ill your issue of July 14, it is pleasing to find'he reoogniscs the value ..of: pedigree with performance. If ho does , not, why does ho suggest tliat the Government should import an .'.animal .of the right quality, oven if it costs £500? Ho surely would not advise the expenditure of so much money 011 a scrub bull, even'if'its dani produced a record yield of milk and butter-fat.• ' He says " like produces like," and that is in a measure true, as all owners of scrub beasts will'allow.' Breeders of pedigree cattlo endeavour to procure superior animals with the expectation of improving their hards, and find that from : the same sire and: dam the progeny varies. Two; full-blooded sister cows, may bo markedly unequal as profit-producers, and the chances of scrub-bred cattlo producing superior dairy stock have beeii foupd infinitesimal: Mr. Prouse contends that the first requirement of'a dairy cow is to_ lay 011 fat, but if ho enters such animals for butter-fat competitions he will be grievously d/sappomted. All practical dairymen view with suspicion the cow which carries the fat' on her back during the milkjng period. ' V Mr. Prouse's idea that Jersey cows are delicate has not been confirmed in.ftny. experience of thorn, and'l have lately fen Jerseys looking quite as sleek and ds-Ayr-shire cattle, on the samo farm, in a. much colder district than. Levin. I agree with him in his eulogistic references t-o; the good beef qualities of the beef breeds for beef purposes, and I would not. dream of rearing ' Jersey steers, but would .feed tho skim milk' to'fowls and pigs, thus getting a more speedy and profitable return. ./Breeders of beef animals .will not be so foolish as'.to •breed away. from, beef, and. successful dairy factory suppliers will look to the dairy breeds to improve their butter-fat returns. : Mr. Erouse .shows wisdom in not purchasing from , the Government a mongrel bull, even though it is the son of a heavy milker, and realises truly that its progeny would probably be inferior to itself. I understand the AVcraroa Farm is to'be used for demonstration purposes, and fail to see any just reason- why the Government should not test their • selected animals of the better known dairy _ breeds. ' Tho experience of practical farmers in Taranaki is that tho use of pedigree' Jersey bulls has been of great assistance to them in raising the quality of . their herds. This! is evidenced by. the'growing demand for stud Jerseys during the past five years. The Taranaki: dairymen aro equal to any in the world, and no beauty of form or colour of coat .would have influenced their keen business, discernment had the contents of the pail not realised | their, expectations. In conclusion, I will say again that though other purebred cattlo aro bonnie, the Jersey cow is still the golden queen of the dairy.— I am, etc., A. BUCHANAN. Jersey Holme,'Palmerston North, ' July 21. ■ r '■ ' : ' •