FARM AND DAIRY

Northern Advocate, 16 April 1932, Page 13

FARM AND DAIRY

‘' BREEDING OR STOCK. iI . : 1 OLD PROBLEM REVIVED. . i ) APPEARANCE AND PERFORM- . I ANGE; An old controversy lias been re.vi.yed among ■b re odors of. dairy cattle in j England by certain results at, the rej cent London Dairy Show. The champion cow, as well as certain, other ,animals which distinguished , themselves , in the milking trials and butter tests, 'did not appeal very strongly to the in- | spection judges. A critic ,i,n the . Live : Stock Journal writes that such things | should not escape attention,. They I provide food for thought in ! tion of the aims of breeders and show | societies. He mentions that '.‘several I of the heaviest milkers possessed bags ! which induced ‘quite a bit of chin Scratching’ among visiting farmers.” j According, to this critic, the placing, jof the highest honours of the show during the last few years seems, rather to discount the importance, of the (inspection classes. ‘‘The avowed aim | of the Britisli Dairy Farmers’ Associjation,” ho states, ‘‘ is the improyeI ment of dairy stock, and it may be { asked which is the cow that is most I valuable genetically —she who wins a (first in the inspection class because she iis typical of her variety, symmetrical, ! and possesses a reasonable ability at I the pail, or the matron who, while not |so close to these standards, yields a ! prodigious amount of milk or butter | and takes the highest honours in the I show T ? In other -words, is a plain cow with a heavy yield better than a more typical one with v moderate yield? By ‘better’, -we mean of more value to her breed and the country’s dairy j stock generally. The question is a difficult one, and brings up the old problem of pedigree ' breeding—appearance versus performance. Since the days of the old bull, Hubbacks, breeders have often found that it is not always the best-looking sires and dams which produce the most attractive progeny. -Many a bull especially endowed with ability to transmit good qualities to his offspring has gone to the block on account of his plainness before his value as a sire has been realised. Undoubtedly, again, in the case of several breeds the craving for breed points has lost many useful sires, to .the industry. Of course, breeders usually pursue the middle course.. The good-looking cow is, as a rule at least ,au adequate yieldor, and the cow who gives a high yield is a useful specimen, on exterior conformation, of her kind. • The-writer finds, however, that ‘‘the trend of gcnetieal research today is more and more to-.emphasise the--record of production as the basis of mating. Daxightors, of heavy yielders are united with • the sons and grandsons of heavy yielders. The preservation of breed standards is not the first consideration. Thus a cow which, judged on conformation, is only mediocre, both in type and utility points, becomes a valuable breeding animal because of the records behind her. The question-.which comes to one’s mind is ‘Does recording constitute a menace to breed type?” “And,” he concludes, “in the light of such . a thought one wonders whether the London dairy show authorities might not do well to 'give more prominence to inspection points-in awarding its leading honours.” :

THE NOSTRIL FLY. PREVALENCE IN SHEEP, INTERESTING HISTORY. ___ • To a grub or number of grubs of the Nostril Fly found in the head of a sheep upon division after death is often attributed the animal’s death. Such is probably not the case at all, and this fact is worth stressing. It is • a grayish-white grub growing up to about half an inch in length and apart from a little irritation-does the sheep no harm whatever. The grub is the larva of the sheep nostril fly, and it is this fly which provides one of the few reasons upon which the assumption may be based that the. sheep has a power of reason- j ing, or at least a very strong instinct- I

The fly itself is not unlike the ordinary house-fly in appearance, although a little smaller and a little less, visible in flight. It is of the same family as the bot fly, now well known in Now Zaland, and the warble fly which does so much damage in England. When it is in' flight it makes a noise not unlike that of the bot fly,’, although not so loud.!

When these flies visit a paddock containing sheep the, ' whole - of . the ~ flock seems to learn of the 'a’rnval'

within a very’ short space of time. There appears" to be a very efficient form of silent telegraph and within a short period an observer will see the sheep together and near tbe ground, single shoe]) seeking holes in the ground in which to bury their noses, or each darting hither and thither to seek safety. • All tins despite the fact that the fly does not bite and is much like any other which frequents sheep pastures.

The fly lays its eggs in the nostrils of a sheep and when the larva is hatched it lives in the sinuses of the nose, eyes, and cars, there using the slight inflammation it causes as its provender. It does the animal no lasting harm, and, in fact, does not cause it any other disconvenience. than a snuffle in the nose with a slight discharge. I The larva grows to its full size before it irritates the back -of the nose so that the sheep sneezes. During such sneezing attacks the larva makes 51s escape on to the pasture, there to complete its development into a fullgrown -fly. As a fly its life is from G to S weeks only. As many as G-f larva have been found in a sheep’s head, and up to 40 is common, so that the fact that the amount of damage to the sheep is slight of negligible is all the more surprising. It does not attack the brain and must not be confused with the rarer fly whose larva does. In the case of that insect, of course, the sheep develops symptoms of brain attack;

l CHAMPION COWS. SEVEN" 1000 LB PRODUCERS. The following cows have been, granted first-class certificates under the C.O.R. test on yields of 10001 b butterfat or over, up to the end of .1931, the days in all cases being 335: Alcartra Clothilde Pietje, Friesian, 31,3121 b milk, 1,145.241 b butterfat. Holly Oak’s Annie, Jersey, 18,5221 b milk, 1,053.491 b butter-fat. Hilda Minto de Kol, Friesian, 27,7731 b milk, 1,043.31ib butter-fat. Vi vaudiere, Jersey, 17,2521 b milk, ,1,033.091 b butter-fat. Totara Sylvia Colantha, Friesian, 23,3101 b milk, 1,024.371 b butterfat. Pretty’s Flirt, Jersey, 13,3841 b milk, 1,010.491 b butter-fat. Mona vale Queen Bess, Friesian, 23,461 lb . milk, 1,002.201 b butter-fat. The oldest cow of the group at the commencement of the test was Hilda Minto de Kol, .12 years 53 days, and the youngest, Holly Oak’s Annie, . 5 years 9 days.