SHOWYARD VERSUS DAIRY. FARMERS' AYRSHIRES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2253, 6 May 1897, Page 4

SHOWYARD VERSUS DAIRY. FARMERS' AYRSHIRES.

The outspoken and emphatic criticism of Scottish showyard Ay t shires by Mr Hamilton to which we last week directed the attention of dairy-farmers, taken in connection with the discussions the lecture evoked at meetings of farmers and in the agricultural journals, clearly establishes the significant fact tbafc the abuses commented on were never contemplated by the early breeders of these cattle. During the pas-fc few; years quite an unusual amount of attention has been drawn to the remarkable difference between the fancy, fashionable, showyard Ayrshire and the "commercial" dairy cow of the breed wisely sought for by rent-paying farmers in the markets and auction rings now common all over Scotland. Of course, breeders will go in for tbe sbow animal so long as there is a market for it, but for every one that lives by showing there are hundreds who live by dairying, and who want animals of the Ayrshire breed that will produce abundantly milk, butter,, and cheese, and finally beef, for as the late Mr Park—a noied breeder— stated in his famcus lecture, "there are Ayrshires capable of milking heavily and layiDg on flesh which can be bcught by the farmer who works in that way aft from £14 to £17, and sold ou; fat to the butcher after oce and a-half year* at about £14. thus leaving no balance against her in tbe farmer's books, but a substantial pfofifc." " The use of the Ayrshire is not simply that of a machine for making milk. She can never compete with the sbortihorn, polled, or crossbred to rear and fetd for commercial purposes, bnfc she can be fed, if proparly bred, to milk well and to feed profitably in the end of the day." This animal is nob < he f ashion&ble Ayrshire— 1 the scorn of Mr Park, Mr Hamilton, and a host of other cempefcenb Authorities — but the Ayrshire of the sale ring and the dairy- farmer who wants milk, butter, and cheese, with a good frame and the disposition to lay on flesh. The prominent consideration cow in Scotland being how to increase the good commercial sorts of Ayrshire, Mr Archibald MacNeiiage — following Mr Hamilton's example — addressed a meeting of the Gilmourton Mutual Improvement Association on the subject of "The Use and Abuse of the Ayrshire." His purpose was to point out what had bean actually done with the Ayrshire, to describe the kind of bulls used to bring about the best and worst results, aud to discuss the system of breeding which tells against her BUCcesßful development as a useful commercis.l cow. He is not in agreement with the numerous class of farmers in Scotland who hold that the the Ayrshire* of former dajs were better than these of recent year.*, his contention being that it is only the showj ard types that are not up to the mark. He admits that .types have varied somewhat according to vagaries of fashion, bub he maintains thab this Scottish dairy breed is in the main true to it* early reputation", and s bill largely prevails fehroughont the dairy-farming districts. There is a risk, he acknowledge.*, of forgetting that the Ayrshire is also intended to take sornepoeition ps a butcher's cow, because " it is difficult for the feeder or butcher, accustomed to the handling of black polled cattle, to believe either that the Ayrshire can be fed to a decent weight or tbafc her flesh, when fed, can be worth ea}i°g- Nevertheless butohers who have had experience in handling Ayrshire carcases will be tbe first; to admit that sha kills well, and that the flesh of an Ayrshire bullock is only surpassed by thab of the best polled'cattle." As the chief duty of the Ayrshire is, however, to produce milk, tbe wedge type has been deliberately arrived at in her breeding, and nonce what may be called its exacgeratiou in this particular c'.ase. Tee amalgamation of the milk and yeld sections might do something to check this undue exaggeration, were the fashionable bulls characterised by the desired masculine character ; were they stronger in the neck and fore-part thsn they usually are. But "to mate the fashionable showyard bull with the fashionable showyard cow or heifer in milk is not a likely method of increasing the strength and stamina of the Ayrshire breed." In his description of an ideal Ayrshire Mr MacNeilage said : " The cow I am about to describe is neither a vision nor a dream. She exists to-day, and her achievements can be tested and verified by anyotie who cares to pay a visit to the Fairfield Farming Company's establishment near to K-ppeu Station. This cow a fortnight after calviog weighs lOswt. She measures round the chest, behind the shoulderblades, 6tt l^in, and across the chest, from point of shoulder-blade to point of shoulderblade, 22in. She is between five and six years old, and at the present time is yielding an average of from 301b to 31lb of milk in the morning, and 261b to 281b milk in the evening." Mr Dryedale, the manager of the company, furnished Mr MacNeilage with a description of the kind of Ayrshire thab pay? him best. She is a cow standing on moderately short legs, widely set, and fine m the bona, with a good clean Heck and shoulder, wedge-shaped at toy — that is, with no superfluous beef and muscle ; well arched in the ribs, with plenty of room in the chest. A flat- ribbed animal is never a good feeder, and consequently never a good milker. The cow shoald have a straight back, wide at the tores, with strong deep thighs and deep flanks, a *mall, thin, long tail, as cowl with coarse tail 3 are seldom good milkei'3. A thin-skinned animal with a yellow tinge in the colour, and mellow and loose to the touch, is almost invariably profitable in the dairy, yielding a large supply of milk Rhowing a good proportion cf batter fat. The head of the dairy cow should be carefully studied — blocky, wide between the eyes, and not too long between the eyes and the nostrils, and wide also between the nostrils. A long narrow face is a common accompaniment of the narrow cheat aad Hat

I ribs. Tho horns should be widely set, with an | upward tendency, and the eyes should be bright and clear. Tho peculiar facial expression and ! bright eye common to the good nurse of all species is easily recognised in tho Ayrshire, and is an unfailing index to her milking properties. "These points will be generally conceded as eminently desirable in tbe Ayrshire cow. "But-," to quote Mr MacNeilage, "unfortunately some of them can be simulated, and the manufacture of fine horns is one of the fine arts in the Ayrshire world. How long the system of making horns with the aid of pulleys is to be tolerated , by agricultural societies it is impossible to say. That it hss sold many an unworthy specimen which would otherwise have been discarded by all fanciera cannot be denied, but the use of the pulleys is not so easily detected and put down as some of the other practices against; which agricultural societies have in recent years resolutely set their faces." To return, however, to Ihe desirable characteristics of an Ayrshire cow, tho manager of Fairfield, who supervises a herd of over 80 at;d keeps a milking record of each cow's yield morning and evening, and therefore is understood to be an expert, says that the udder " should be capacious and well shaped ; carried tight to the body, wide below, and carried well forward. A good forevessel is an almost unfailing index of a cow that will pay all along the line, bub a cow which carries a shapely vessel when yeld is seldom a good milker. A tfciak, flsshy vesselis always to be suspected and generally avoided, and in judging two-year-old and yearling queys attention should be directed to their probable ' future usefulness as dairy cows, and not to fancy points peculiar to a fancy race called "yeld" stock. Judges should endeavour to discover the appearance of vessels and teats in young cattle intended to become useful dairy cows, and prizes should be awarded to the | young stock that possess these characteristic.

. . . If tbe Ayrshire were a beef breed it would be excusable to ignore the formation of the lacteal organs in the younger stock, but so long as a leading place as a dairy breed belongs to her utility at the pail should be the judge's guiding atiir from the moment the calf is dropped "

Thinking that facts and figures will be * better guide io those studying this question closely than general statements about having the vessel carried well forward and gripped well up, Mr MacNeilage had measurements taken of the udders of two of the cows at Fairfield. The cows were yieldiDg at,the time from 281b to 341b of milk fit a' milking. Immediately belore being milked in the morning —that ig, after being milked the previoui evenirjg —the vessel of the oDe cow measured 34-in in length from tbe neck of the vessel in rear to the front of tbe vessel, and 32in from flank to flank. The vessel of the other cow, under exactly similar circmnstaDces, measured 34in in length and 30iu from flank to flank. The former, afc the i&ilk'wg which immediately followed the measuring, gave 341b and the latter 28lb of milk. The average measurement of the vessels of these and similar cows some little time after calving and wheu newly milked was —l' ugtb, from 26' ii . to 28in, and the .width from flimk to flank 30in to 3'2iu. As to the position and size of the teats,. Mt Drypdale says that' the small teats which e&ine in with tho tight vesseli have either gone or are goinp fast. Teats which are too Urge are objectionable, because, as a rule, they are toogb. to milk, very long tapering teats especially so, and he estimates that during an ord'nary milking period of from nine to ten months a cow with tough teats will yield about one-fifth less milk than one more easily handled. Experience shows that a cork-shaped teat, blunt to the point and m< asuting when at rest about 2£in, ib a nice medium; ia the hands of the operator such a teat distends to abcut 3in, the width oE the average hand of a woman. Tbe teats should be placed well under, not on the outside of, the v ider, because when placed in the latter way it is difficult for the milker to draw the milk from the eff-side teats into the pail withoub losing some. In relation to tho'milk records of Ayrihires that have b?en published from time to time in agricultural jcuruals, Mr MacNeilage submitted the following tab'e, designed to show two things —the quantity of milk that can be taken out of an autumn-calving Ayrshire cow during the first five months after calving and the abnormal length cf time the same cow will continue to give » large quantity if she bs kept tree of oalf and highly fe.i. The cows specified are in the Fairßeld herd, in wh:ch, ai already stited, a careful milkirg record is kept: —

The cow No. 30, which give 697 gal in five months and 1098 gal in 38 weeks, in her sixth week gave 404-lb of milk, equal-to a iittle over 40gal, her beet daily yield in that week being 651b, or 6|gal, and her milk showed 550 of batter fat. " But not to take such an extreme case," said Mr MacNeilage, " compare two cows standing in one stall, eating the same food, the one in b6r youth a prize quey and the other such a cow as has b=en described as desirable. The former yield from 500 gal to 600g*l per annum, showing from 3 to 3£ per cent, of butter fat; the other produces from 800 gal to 900 gal per annum, showing about 4£ per cent, cf butter fab. The difference between them is that the good cow gives 300 gal more milk, the quality of which is 2 per cent, better than that of the cow giving the smaller quantity." It may bo asked ; Is not 6uch highpressure feediDg as that practised at Fairfield huitf ul to the cows ? Mr MacNeilage'fl answer to that is: "Given good constitutions, such treatment of the cows need not have any bad effect. In regard to this point, it may be of some value to look at the returns from an ordinary herd of spring-calving Ayrshires in Ayrshire. During the rtilkiug period, extending in the main from May to October inclusive, the total yield in the herd under notice was 173,874-^lb, or an average of 4827£1b per head for 36 cows. Making & small allowance for the November jield, arid reckoning 10£lb of milk to the gallon, each cow in the twelve months , gave 475ga1. This, afc 8d per gallon, means * revenue from each of £15 16s Bd, aa against ! £33 16a from one of the cows of the Fairfield herd. Such cows are worth from £5 to £10 ' per annum more to their owner, and will eat no more than the wastrels of which co much has bsen heard. In the auction mart the fancy ! " scrubs" ieil at from £9 to £13 a-piece. while

the good commercial sorts can always command from £16 to £18 and upwards. In a prize dairy . herd, of which frequent mention has been made, the best daily yield of any cow was 37'21b, or about 3£ga! ; for other cows in-tbe herd during the best three months' grass aiter calving, and daring the seven months beginning in May, the best daily yield was 32 - llb, or 3 £gal. Other cows in the herd gave an average daily yield during these seven or eight months of 3OBlb, 30 '61b, 29 41b, and 27 61b. A large number of spring calvers in this herd gave from 26 '301b per day during the period of lactation, extending over a period of from seven to nine months. Taking

it at an average of eight months, and the

average daily yield as 301b, or 3gaJ, the total product of each cow would be 732ga1, which, at

Bd, would yield £24 Bs. This is possibly putting ifc rather high, as the best daily record for eight months was 3g*l, while there were others as low a3 2£gal, but even on a sanguine and favourable estimate the show herd comes short of the commercial ; and neither in it. nor in the average Ayrshire herd, is the best possible use made of the Ayrshire cow. In 35 weeks No. 30 in the Fairfield herd gave 1014 gal of milk, and the be3t milker in the show herd in the same period gave 732ga1, representing a difference in revenue (calculated at 8d per gal) of £9 8s 6d. Even, therefore, trhen all allowances have bsen made, a big margin of advantage remains in favour of the commercial cow over either the ordinary cow of an Ayrshire byre or the cow of the showyard prize-winning herd. In giving an account of how the best paying Ayrshire cow has been bred, Mr MacNeilage cited the Fairfield herd as an illustration of bow this has been done, and that it is not a theoretical problem. .Ten years ago the milk of all the 68 cows in that herd wai analysed by a competent analyst. Nine of the cows were giving milk showing over 5 per cent, of butter fat, 22 were yielding over 4£ per cent., 14 were yielding over 4 per cent., and 23 were yielding under 4 per cent. Calves only from cows yielding over A£ per cent, of butter fat were reared, and the tribes of the others were gradually •weeded out. Further, by the aid "of the bi- ■ daily milk record, the product of every cow was •'known, and no cow was kept in the stock for any length of time which did not yield over 600 gal par annum. By combining what was learnt from the analysis and the milking record, and only keeping calves from cows whose yields were up to the standard, alike in quality and quantity, the value of the herd has been increased, so. that, when tested last winter, fully 60 per cent, of its members were giving milk showing over 5 per cent., and 75 per cent, of them were yielding milk showing over 4|-per cent, of butter fat. This result has only been attained by the exercise of great care and scrupulous attention in the selection of bulls, and no 6ire is used without every inquiry being made as to the milking records of his female ancestry. The- great; defect in the Ayrshire -Herd Book is, Mr MacNeilage says, "that it affords the breeder do help at all in this matter. What is wanted is, along with the pedigree in the accustomed form, particulars of the milking records and batter fat tests of ths dam and granddam, and further back, if that be possible, of every bull in the register. This would Berve a dual purpose — it would place ai the disposal of the breeder a weapon whereby he might improve his stock in genuine dairy properties — not in quantity without quality, nor in qumlity without quantity — and it would vastly enhance the value of the Ayrshire in the foreign market. Even if the Herd Book Society will not take up this-work, every breeder should engage in it for himself. The keeping of a milking record, once it is started in a systematic way, is by no means an insurmountable difficulty. Anyone who will

take a turn through the Fairfield byres while milking is in progress will at ones realise this, and learn a lesson in improving the utility and diminishing the abuse of the Ayrshire." In the tables given above most of the cows specified ■were still in the Fairfield herd at the date of Mr MacNtilage'g lecture. " One of the best is 17 years old, and a strong, healthy, vigorous animal. She has been 11 years in stock, and is a grand representative of what is to be found jn the Ayrshire breed." Others referred to are cows from 10 to 12 years old, " and all of them are eound, big, open cowe," as were described in an earlier part of the lecture. There can be no doubt as to the disclosure of the knowledge that Scottish farmers, well knowing the merits of the Ayrshire breed of cattle as profitable in dairy-farming, have, not for to-day or yesterday, but for many years, known how to estimate the value of the " fancy " show Ayrshire;, knowing that the pracbically useful sort had no chance of a prize.

STo. of Cow. 1 ... 5 ... 6 ... 8 ... 9 ... 12 ... 17 ... 21 ... 30 ... 33 ... 31 ... 4S ... 51 ... 53 ... 54 ... co ... 77 ... 79 ... 41 ... Produce in Five Months After Calving. Gals. '.'.'. 601 ... 587 ... 554 ... 624 ... 528 ... 697 ... 54S ... 640 ..r 598 ... 597 !!! 629 ... 620 ... 572 ... 631 Produce Daring \vhoi Period of Lactation. No. of Yield Weeks. Gals. 75 1416 63 14tf 46 10^5 50 1238 . 62 lisa 56 1198 38 1098 50 1178 60 H96 45 1069 60 1098 6* 1371 52 120S 52 HSS