THE CATTLE OF TO-DAY.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3188, 16 September 1881, Page 3

THE CATTLE OF TO-DAY.

It would be somewhat amusing to compare some of the articles in the English agricultural journals of ten years ago with those of to-day on the subject of cattle breeding. At the former period dairying was seldom alluded to except in connection with a few favorito varitiea of milkers, such as the Aryshire, Alderney, or Jersey, and was never associated with shorthorns except by a casual remark to the effect that some of the distant ancestors of some particular tribe had been a noted milker. The shorthorns and Herefords were always regarded as tho beef producers par excellence. Their aptitude to mature and fatten rapidly had been so carefully and successfully developed

through so many generations, at the expense of their milk-producing properties, that ifc had become a very common and essentially necessary practice with many tribes to rear the calves on foster-mothers. American competition in meat, and the sudden fall in the value of pedigreed cattle in the United Kingdom from absurdly extravagant prices to what may fairly be termed their intrinsic value as beef producers, has in the course of the last few years worked a wonderful change in tho opinion of stock-breeders as to the importance of the dairy. Ten years ago the cattle auctioneer would descant upon tho early maturing deep flesh-carrying properties of cattle under the hammer as the only qualification requisite, never by any chance alluding to milk-giving properties. Now, however, when the intended dispersion of a herd is announced ifc is deemed the first duty of the auctioneer to identify ifc, in some degree of relationship, however distant, with some tribe that in tho days of Collings, Bates, or the early Booths was noted afc tho pail. Long before the time first mentioned, and for yeai-s afterwards, the Live Stock Journal and other papers specially devoted to the subjects of stock-rearing and fattening, teemed witli articles claiming pre-eminence for some particular breed or tribe as flesh producers. Now one can scarcely take up an English agricultural journal without one's attention being attracted to the large amount of space occupied in fclie discussion of subjects connected with tho dairy ; and one wellknown writer, who lias long and persistently claimed for the shorthorns premier position as the beast for the butcher, lias suddenly discovered that all along his favorite breed has been almost exclusively supplying the London dairies with milk. So long as the few fashionable tribes of shorthorns were retained in the possession of a few fancy breeders—noblemen and others of means — thoy commanded fancy prices, much in the same way as we see old china valued and sold at prices immensely in excess of its intrinsic value. But, as all cattle are bred either for tho shambles or the dairy, it was clear to most reasoning minds that the price of beef and milk must ultimately determine and rule tho value of even the most fashionable tribes of cattle. Formerly breeders of these fashionable lines found ready purchasers for their surplus stock in rival breeders of the same blood. Now, however, since the number of fancy breeders has been greatly curtailed, the surplus stock can only find an outlet in the herds of those who breed direct for the butcher or the dairy ; and, as in a large number of instances both are combined in the same herd, mere pedigree alone is no longer a sure passport to high prices. A review of tho past season's shorthorn sales in England discloses the fact that the highest general average was not obtained for the highly fashionable strains of blood, the general body of purchasers preferring to purchase from appearance rather than pedigree. The whole question is not without a useful lesson to Australian cattle breeders. The craze —for such it has undoubtedly been for many years—for certain lines of Bates cattle, irrespective of many very evident defects, may now he said to have been exploded, and breeders are being taught that substantial success can only be attained now, as it was by the early improvers, by judicious care and selection, pedigree being only one of the means to that end. —Queenslander.