CREATING A DAIRY HERD.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 984, 26 November 1910, Page 20

CREATING A DAIRY HERD.

IMPORTANCE OP THE SIRE,

The advent of contesting in the dairying districts of Now .Zealand is likejy to' bring home to tho dairyman tlie importance of keeping a good herd. It xosts as much —frequently more—to feed a bad cow than it does to keep a good ono going, but this fact has not been, in the past, generally recognised by dairy farmers. The tide has turned, however, and dairy fanning is now on its way to be regarded as a commercial science. In tho days gone by few farmers interested in tho industry attached any importance to tho sire of the herd. Breed was no consideration, so long as the animal was cheap, and there is little, doubt-that, this practice has retarded the industry for.years. . Opinion of Mr. Harkness. Some points regarding this matter from the pen of Mr. J. G. Harknoss, late, chairman of the National Dairy •Association, and a reco£nised authority on dairy farming, are extremely interesting. Mr. Harkness says:— "One reason assigned for the many unprofitable cows is that 'their sires were mongrels, or not adapted to producing milkers. . In a good dairy the bull is the important factor. This, for some reason that is unaccountable, is too frequently ignored. Again and again it has been the experience of tiio writer to see purchases made at public sales of a sire for tho coming season at form 17s. 6d. to £1 10s. We arormilking to-day, in many instances, th'o progeny of bulls that cost 17s. 6d. to £1 10s. Just think of it. Is it any wonder that we have to deplore,, at the end of a season, the small results received from each cow? The breeding of a 'good animal should be a delight to a J lovor of stock. Tho drudgery of dairy farming can be rendered in a measure enjoyable if we pay more attention to this' interesting department of our work. ; To some men it comes as an intuition, the skill and judgment exercised:.in .mating animals to produce a certain type, combined, of course, with thought., and experience. ■ Others, again, work it out for themselves, without possessing , any natural gift or' talent in that direction. There are .othors, however, who never acquire it, for they-never try. They never breed ..anything .'worth looking at, except' Ismail images .of themselves, , and in that case'there is no reversion of typo —'like begets like.' In the near future object aimed at. by all interested 'in- the industry must bo the breeding of their own stock, and the application, to..this special department of work of that line of breeding that will improve the milk-yield. Such episodes as the following should be impossible: Mr. A had a bull that had proved unsatisfactory, and was of no further service. Mr. B possessed a similar animal with like qualifications. Strango to" say, they both decided to sell at a public saleyard on the same day. The animals were driven in, and what .was tho result? Mr. A went homo .with Mr. B's bull, and Mr. B became the owner of Mr. A's. This is an absolute fact. Comment is unnecessary. You talk loudly of commercial honesty, ' etc; Where is tho honesty of, this transacr tion? . Thank God, in the. above:illustration it was a case of the '.biters being bitten.' ■' ( They .deserved'it;' '' ' Must be Purebred. ~ "It is generally admitted that 'tho bull is half tho herd. , In practice this is not true. He stands in relation to tho whole in a'greater ratio'tlia'n'o'nV half. Therefore it is of tho utmost importance that , only good specimens Ishould be allowed to , propagate their , .species. The bull should' bo -purebred; because of a long'line of clean ancestry his breed characteristics are. permanent-' ily fixed, and these niay be relied..on.to |be reprpduced in his. progeny." : On the. lotlier hand, ; a-■'crossbred , -sire (by.this ;is meant tho .offspring-of ,a' pure sire afld' an.ordijiary-bred . dam K . piv yjco versa), though, in appearance' and looks superior in some respects to the pure-/ ;bred,: has. been'. bred in a.' .lucky, stylo/far too common"; and laqks ;tho.'power.of. prepotency ,and heredity!; •Such-a jbiill: is .probably one "of .tho accif .dents of Nature) "and .'if used will,throw; 'nothing- equal to himself, but invariably" ; reproduce the defects.and shortcomings of; his-ancestors. -It is a sine qua ; ri'on • that the >'animal-at tho ( head of your ■ hercl should be.purebred, not ..too .masculino in appearance, but sufficiently; : marked to indicato from his appearance I that ho 'possesses: a.strong individual character. Ho must be of a determined dairy type,'-full-of nervous energy, so , that he will take possession of tho ,fe-', ■ niale current with which'he is .'.brought' ;in contact, and impress upon.his heifers !tho quality,, of the dams that: are behind him; well formed and well grown/ of good colour and constitution, vigorous, with a capacity to transmit to his offspring the peculiar good properties, excellences, and form which he , has inherited from a succession of ancestors endowed with similar characteristics. See that ho comes from a milking-strain, especially on tho dam's side —it-is advisable to have this quality well authenticated.. ' Character and Constitution. "An ablo writer oh the subject has said: 'The most reliable basis of calculation as to the power of transmission, or, as it is called, the"prepotoncy" of tho bull, is tho dairy character of his . grandmothers and "great-grand-mothers on both sides of his peaiaree. 50-is the stored-up results of what lies behind him. The quality of his ancestors will have more' effect on his offspring than the performance of his ;■ mother. She to him of what sho inherited. more than of what sho does. Sho may bo rich in inherited qualities and yet for some reason be herself only an ordinary, performer. On- the contrary, she may be a large performer.at tho pail simply as'a sport, but not having a'strong tide of inheritance in a dairy direction she'has nothing to convoy to son or daughter. This .will, explain why so. many Shornliorn ' cows .that are large performers "themselves :fail uttorly to convey their,own dairy quality, to their progeny. Their lino of breeding is from a beef heredity for many generations, .'and they give to their progeny what they-inherited. A' cow breeds from her blood, not from her.udder.. .So we must -have dairy pedigree as well as dairy performance if we cot our money's worth when buying. a .bu11.. , ' _....'_ : ' ' "Further, tako care that those parts of the body where tho male follows the female anatomy are well developed, if you want heifers with shapely- udders- and well-formed teata.' A bull with rudimentarius attached to the ■testicles, and requiring a , .magnifying, ■glass to locate; never produces a heifer ; with .a perfectly-shaped . udddr. Lot these appendages.'bp large—the larger the better—placed.: squarely • on, . well formed, and, as ' a rule, you will got progeny of milking capacity that'will bo- a pleasure to seo and 'milk'. ■ It' i<, not 'contended , ' that .every purebred animal .will prove .a'..success at tho stud. ■If that were so, wo should ere this have reached tho'ideal. state and typo. Failures are inbyitable. ■■ Tho-percentage, however,' of. victories,on tho lines indicated, is abundant proof of-their sound-ness-.and valuo, and if any, material.improvement is generally brought about ono' of'tho first' stops.must bo , in tho direction "of using purebred' sires' only."