DAIRY CATTLE.

Oxford Observer, Volume V, Issue V, 5 May 1894, Page 3

DAIRY CATTLE.

. BY W. WATSON. JUNR. The question is often asked — Does it pay to be engaged in dairy work ; and, if so, what kind of cattle is best adapted for the purpose? We cannot lay down a hard and fast rule on the subject, as there are many things to be taken into consideration, such as the nature of the soil, and whether the object is to raise young stock or the production of milk, butter, or cheese. The kind of cattle that would succeed admirably under certain circumstances would go far towards being a failure under other conditions. In this matter every man is, or ought to be, the best judge as. +o what will be best under his circumstances and for his purpose. Each breed of cattle has its advocates, and no doubt they can find a great deal to say in their favour. We may be blinded by prejudice to all the good qualities of other breeds, and think our own particular breed superior to all others. In this country we have no cattle that can claim to be native to the country. In the Old Country it is, or was, far otherwise ; the breeds of cattle were almost as numerous as the countries and districts in the United Kingdom. Each breed had characteristics that were more or less peculiar to itself and was for the most part admirably adapted by long usage to its particular environment. These cattle were classed by Youatt as longhorns, middle horns, shorthorns, and no horns at all. Very few of these breeds have found their way to this side of the world. We have only to a limited extent the Devons, Herefords, Polled Angus, Galloways, and Hoistiens, and in greater numbers the Jerseys or Alderneyi, Ayrshires and Shorthorns. These are all pure breeds and have been bred for long years with a particular object in view. All these cattle have excellent qualities peculiar to themselves, but they cannot all be said to be the best for exclusively dairy purposes. 4 The Devons are on the side of being rather small, and are not noted for the quantity of their milk, but it is of very excellent quality. The steers, however sometimes attain considerable size, and toa great extent rivalled the horse in activity in the times when tbley were put to the plough. Naturally they are rather under-sized, but when they had been worked for a couple of yeais they developed wonderfully, and were capable of putting oa flesh rapidly. The Herefords are essentially beefeattle. In their native country they are kept for little else. The calves were mostly' allowed to suck their dams, and this was not calculated to develop their milking qualities. | The Polled Angus and the Galloway two very similar breeds, are much more adapted for, the. production, of. good carcases of beef than for the production of niilk and butler. Their yield of milk is somewhat limited, but of excellent quality. The other breeds of cattle mentioned demand a more lengthy notice, for they are here in much larger .numbers . either in their pure bred state or in their crosses. There are certain features or characteristics belonging to all breeds of diiry

cattle, and if these are not present then we may find ourselves very much disappointed ~- The dairy farmer regards the cow. , as a machine for the conversion of the raw material in the form of grass, corn roots, etc., into milk and butter; and before he can reasonably expect them to do this profitably he must look v/ell to the cow. He must avoid the mistake of supposing that because a beast may be a cow that she will be profitable. There are cows and cows. Whatever be their breed there are certain conformations that are indispensable to the thriving cow. Youatt says — "If there is one part of the frame, the form of which, more than any other, renders the animal valuable it is the chest. There must be- room for the heart to beat, and the lungs to play, or sufficient blood for the purposes of nutriment and of strength will not be circulated ; nor will it thorougly undergo that vital change which is essential to the proper discharge of every function. We must look therefore, first of all, to the wide and deep girth about the heart and lungs. We must have both : the proposition in which the one or the other may predominate will depend on the service we want from the animal— width for beef, depth .for milk. In the cow there must be plenty of room for the dapacious paunch, room for the materials from which the blood is to be provided. A largeness arid drooping of the belly is excusable in a cow, although it diminishes the beauty of the animal it leaves room for the udder, and if it is also accompanied by swelling milk veins ife generally indicates her value for the dairy." Selection. In the selection of cows for the dairy it is necessary to have a clear and' distinct idea of what is wanted, and the conformation that indicates the qualities desired. A few of the points that indicate good milkers are, first of all, she must look like a cow. No matter how good an animal-may be in other respects if she is bullocky, or at all of a masculine appearance, she will be a failure in the dairy. To particularise her appearance, she ought to have neat tapering well-placed head, small and rather thin neck, light forequarters, sloping rather than upright shoulders, large and shapely udder coming well under the belly and well shown behind, .teats well and regularly set on, largely developed milk veins, broad hindquarters, and soft mellow skin of a yellowish tinge, hair silky. There aie marks that are of some value that distinguish .good milkers ,- the escutcheon is a guide not to be despised, as a cow with a first class escutcheon is invaribly a first class milker. It is true that a cow with no escutcheon at all nwy be a good milker but if she had had a good one she would have been a better. It is also of importance that a cow should be well come — that is from parents possessing good milking qualities. Selection, too, should go beyond this : it should go the length of actual testing the cows a man keeps. Dr. A. S. Heath, Professor of Cattle in the Colombia College, says there is a meaning and a most satisfactory amount of wealth in the word (selection) to the dairyman. It virtually means putting two cows into one skin, the economy of which is manifest and various. There is economy in the' purchase, or raising of one good cow instead, of two i the saving of one-half in keeping, care, and milking. The expense of a small herd in all respects of a dairy of really first-class animals, over a large herd of inferior cows, niusfc be sufficiently apparent to a dairyman to induce him to make a? careful selection." : v ■.•■'' To he 'continued.