THE DAIRY SHORTHORN.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 72, 26 March 1914, Page 6

THE DAIRY SHORTHORN.

In the course of an interesting paper read before one of the English Chambers of Agriculture, Mr G. Taylor •expressed an opinion on the good qualities of the 'dairy Shorthorn which will receive considerable support from believers in the breed in. New Zea■la^d.-. .He; said:. In. the olden: times :we .'had. a sharp division between the : tnilk and t:h& beef,.. Shorthorn. To someiv ; exteTit.'w.e ihaye ,it to-day, for froth" tif: these;-qualities in the red; white, and roan are cultivated-by the provision of special classes at our leading shows. It is a good sign when breeders realise that the Shorthorn is not intended for one purpose only, but ;t£ a*i its €^tl-a-ordina.ry. adaptability should be turned to whatever use the farmer, finds for it. When Amos Gruickshank gave to the world what ■is,-known as the Aberdeenshire type or Shorthorn, to a very large extent lie 'revolutionised that breed, and th^ wonderful successes which followed' "the bcottah animal, and the progeny of the Scotch cross in the show-yard temporarily diverted attention from the other highly important qualification of milk production^ But that could not last very long, as there were too many inquiries for bulls of long pedigree and 'of dairy type—that is to ■ say, with milking blood in their, veins, to enable breeders to neglect that highly important quality m the Shorthorn. There i<* ,TOom enough in England to-day for all sorts and all conditions of live stock, and if we are still able to maintain what might be called the local breeds of domestic stock in .a-flourish-ing condition,., surely it is not too much to expect that the enthusiasm ot. breeders will find a place for Shorthorns that will produce milk, as well as. Shorthorns, that carry beef.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

When establishing a herd of'pedigree milking Shorthorns, one must naturally look to the cow with dairy characteristics. I would place first and foremost a kindly head and shapelybag, with well-placed teats. Constitution must not be neglected, and 1 place great • importance upon the selection of bulls if you intend to breed a milking herd. I think whatever the extra cost may be it is ■money well laid out if anyone' before buying a bull will go to the herd where he is bred and see the cows in the herd milkedr ' :

In laying tlie foundation of a herd: one naturally looks a good deal to blood, and- in .a- milking herd the old Hates families are essential. Yet one cannot altogethfir-^haying regard, to the foreign a©mahd; for long pedigrees and to the high prices pail for really good bulls—neglect the Scotch cross. If I may draw from my own experience I may say that one of the best bulls I ever used was got by a Cruickshank sire. This was Beau babreur, got by Leonidas, and goin*back to the old Knightly OharmersT Une cannot expect, bulls bred with a strong milking pedigree to look quite the same as those which are the product of h-H strains alone. These latter one o;pectß'to be much thicker and blockier near the ground and deep through the heart; but if we get bulls of ample frame, with their lines -right and color good, with' a nice amount of flesh, we have no difficulty whatever in rinding customers at remunerative prices. _■ Here I might perhaps be' allowed to say a. wordi on the question of milk •and beef. My experience leads me to the conclusion that milk and be°f are very difficult to get right throughout the hea-d—that is to say, one nataiirally expects in a herd which i .•' devoted solely to producing animals of a beef type to find them more perfect there^than m a herd 'whose chief duty is to fall the pail, and vice versa. We must therefore maintain the ideal omilk and beef in the one animal. This can be got m individual cases, but as every practical breeder knows, our heaviest milkers often make the poorest show of flesh, so that. I think we °"Sb-t to be content that our pedigree dairy shorthorns while -they are filling the pail should perform that duty satisfactorily, and when they go dry show a ready aptitude to put on flesh I should not say altogether that the pursuit of milk and beef in one ahimai l ls illusory, for so loha; as uhe Shorthorn is the Shorthorn we must necessarily cultivate both qualities; but.he would indeed "be a .fortunate man who could find all the best qualities of the dual type com-' bmed .in one: herd, as we occasionally tind them m individual animals.