STUD STOCK.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19957, 26 November 1926, Page 4

STUD STOCK.

SOURCE OF SUPPLY.

QUALITY IN ENGLAND. The live stock of the dominions has been built up on importations Irom Great Britain, wiiich has been aptly designated the "stud farm of the worlu." It is a curious fact connected with live stock husbandry that nearly all the modern breeds of sheep and cattle have originated within the British Isles. The formation of valuable new breeds and the improvement of the old ones by Bakewell and the band of famous husbandmen that were his contemporaries lias brought British live stock into favour with stockbreeders wherever hiah-class animals are raised. Studowners have always looked to Great Britain for sires to keep up the standard of their stock, and they will no doubt continue to do so. It is pleasing, therefore, to learn from an article comparing present-day livestock with that of 30 years ago, published in a recent issue of the Live Stock Journal (lingkiutl), that the. quality of British stock is being maintained at a high level. The Royal show held at Reading in July was an unqualified success so far as the merit of the animals exhibited was concerned. It is doubtful if there ever has been a finer ail-round display of live stock, and what was most striking is the improvement that has taken place in pedigree stock during the last 30 years. Then the Shorthorn breed lay under a dark cloud. It had not recovered from (he mad rush after "paper pedigrees,'' and agricultural depression in its acutcst form hung over the land. The price of stock was forced down to the lowest point and enterprise was damped. The old rivalry hotwen the houses of Bates and Booth were then practically at an end. The Cmickshank era was just beginning to carry off all the honours in the show rings, and although the Shorthorn breed vyas then one, and not divided into two distinct sections, there were some breeders who turned their attention to milking qualities, while others devoted their energies more to form and substance. Although there were some giants in those days on I tie of outstanding merit were much more rare than they are to-day. At the shows of those times there were just two or three good animals in a class and the rest were very moderate. . When we compare the extraordinary substance and symmetry of the present-day beef Shorthorn and the excellence of the classes right through, and then, again, when we consider tlie wonderful show of dairy shorthorns, and think of what 'breeders have done to develop the dairying qualities of the breed during the last 20 years, _ it seems almost incredible that such rapid strides have been made in such a short period. Then the Hod Toll breed is anot'ipjthat has been greatly developed since the closing of the last century, and who then would have thought that the British Friesian would have become one of the leading breeds of dairy cattle, with, generallv speaking, more entries to its credit than any other. One of the most remarkable features of this country in the live stock world has been the development of the milking qualities of all breeds of dairy cattle, and, what is still more remarkable, is that it has Tint been accomplished at the expense of form and substance. There w r ere many who prophesied that if breeders of dairy cattle concentrated ou

producing 1000 gallon cows, our dairy breeds would soon consist of a. lot if delicate “ bags of bones,” but instead sve liud handsome, symmetrical, deep-flesh _-i cattle giving 1000 gallons of milk and over, and this type of animal is not rare, as it was a few years ago, but can be met with in any high-class dairy herd in fairly large numbers.

Sheep, generally speaking, appear to have stood still during the last 30 years. There is, for some reason or another, nothing like the enthusiasm shown in sheep breeding as in other classes of stock.

As regards the pig breeding industry, its extension and development have been extraordinary, and when we come to think that there were close on 1000 pigs entered in the Reading Royal Show, it is impossible not to feel proud of the efforts that are being made by Britisa pig breeders to capture their own markets. Pioneers in the movement A the breeds of pigs, like the veteran, Mr Sanders Spence, must feel a deep sense of pride and pleasure when they compare the show pigs at the Royal with those on exhibition at Reading in 1882. Since that date what strides the Shire breed of horses has made. In those days the carthorse was at a very low level in regard to soundness and type, and, looking at the Shire to-day, one cannot help realising how things have " come on" since 1882 in horse breeding, as well a? in other classes of stock. It can be truly said that the quality and type of pedigree stock of all kinds never stood higher and although absolute perfection can perhaps never be attained, we are getting very near it in many cases. Can tin same be said of our ordinary commercial stock? Emphatically no, it cannot. Thy excellence of the British pedigree stock has for long been the admiration of the whole world, and has been the means of raising the standard and quality of foreign and colonial stock to such a high level that the meat sent to Great Britain in the chilled and frozen state is such that it finds a much readier sale than second grade home-fed meat.