YIELDS AND HEREDITY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 83, 20 March 1934, Page 11

YIELDS AND HEREDITY

Breeding for Fat and Milk WHAT A PROFESSOR FOUND In a recent article in these columns Mr C. P. McMeekan, of Massey College, pointed out that it was possible for breeders of dairy cattle to select stock for both milk yield and fat percentage, as these two qualities are two separate inherent factors. In effect, it is possible by careful selection to breed stock which will give a high milk yield, giving a high test. This contention shatters the old belief that a high yield of milk and a low percentage of fat go together and vice versa. A correspondent, commenting on. this assertion points out that Professor Wilson, of Dublin, after a careful study of the records of several thousands of Ayrshire cows, was definitely of the opinion that the inheritance of quantity and quality were independent of each other, and, therefore that it should be possible to unite in the progeny of selected parents the qualities of large yield and high fat percentage. This must not be taken to mean that the yield of a Friesian and the fat percentage of Jersey could be combined in one animal but rather that progeny of selected parents of the same breed could be bred to possess a high yield and high quality for that breed. There is also an abundance of evidence from Denmark proving that this dual improvement in yield and quality is practicable under ordinary farm conditions where the necessary records have been kept and used in the selection and mating of sires and dams. With breeders constantly aiming at herd and breed improvement, this aspect of heredity in butter-fat and milk production is important. Where cows are possessed which have both a high yield and a high fat percentage, the value of such stock as a potential source of improvement should not be neglected.