Jersey Field Day At Kiteroa

Northern Advocate, 20 February 1940, Page 8

Jersey Field Day At Kiteroa

The field day promoted by the Whang'arei Jersey Club (Inc.) and held on Mr S. Irwin Crookes’ Kiteroa stud farm proved successful in every way. Before lunch, Mr H. H. Preston, supervisor of the Northland District Pig Council, demonstrated on pigs, while in the Mr Stan G. Morgan, member of the New Zealand Jersey Council, and an experienced judge, spoke and demonstrated on the breed. On a table erected by the staff of Kiteroa farm, who, with lady friends, were also responsible for preparing and serving, lunch, provided by the club, was served. Before commencing his demonstration, Mr MorgiSn dealt with the breed generally. , Jerseys became numerically strong in New Zealand after the introduction of testing, he said. Land purchased by production had to be paid for by production per cow. Spending money on growing feed for Jersey cows was likened to a man giving his best girl a present of lipstick. He got it all back. Classification of cows was stressed as a help to dairymen in maintaining the type, the highest class of cow, V.H.C., having proved on test to average the most butterfat. Breeders were urged to exhibit at A. and P. shows and not ahvays to allow thb other man to shoulder the job. Jerseys made a steady increase in test during the autumn, a feature not nearly so noticeable in any other breed, Mr Morgan claimed. The herd sire was one point to which breeders and dairymen should at all times give their closest attention, since the future herd was over 50 per cent, the present herd sire. The dam and other close relations of: a bull should be seen, and a breeder who would not allow an inspection of these ought to be left severely alone. With good cattle, line breeding, that is, using a sire of 50 per cent, or less of the same blood as the females, was a sound policy. Inbreeding commonly intensified the failings. All cows deemed unsatisfactory should be sent to the meat works. First Calf Best.

The great proven value of a first calf of a heifer was to be found in the fact that a tremendous proportion of the great Jersey bulls and cows were the first calves of heifers. These included champion .butterfat bulls and V.H.C. cows in percentages all in favour of the first calf animal. In the course of the demonstration, Mr Morgan showed a strong mouth and nostrils with which to eat and breathe were essential, followed by plenty of heart and lung room,, shown by width and depth behind the shoulder. A point of particular importance was the expression of the head of a cow—a full and mellow eye, with room between the eyes for brains, showed that even temper necessary to butterfat production. Questions Answered. Asked if he was in favour of the use of sires who were sons of exceptional producers, Mr Morgan replied that a bull whose dam and daughters and sisters were all 600 or 7001 b producers was a more reliable sire than a son of a 10001 b fat cow who was not recommended by her immediate ancestors or progeny. Asked to define round and flat bones, Mr Morgan stated that, taking the hind shinbone, it should be a very much greater width from front to back than it was from side to side. A round-boned cow nearly always had hips that would fit inside a cupped hand, while a flat-boned cow would have peaked hips. Questioned whether a droopy or verandah tail would affect the producing ability of a cow, the reply was that a faulty back udder was common in those cows, but did not otherwise affect them. The cattle used for demonstration purposes were the champion butterfat bull, Nance’s Sybil’s Gamboge, Imp. (winner of several champion ribbons), Kiteroa Chimes Elia, V.H.C., Kiteroa Lady Superior, V.H.C., and Kiteroa Lady Aldan, H.C. Mr Stevens thanked the ladies and demonstrators for their assistance, Mr Crookes for placing the farm at the disposal of the club for the day, and Mr H. E. Johnson for the very fine sow brought by him for the demonstration in conjunction with the pigs at Kiteroa. Messrs Crookes, Morgan and Preston replied.