OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

Otago Witness, Volume 14, Issue 2648, 14 December 1904, Page 8

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER

(By Oxjk Special Correspondent.) BRADFORD, October 14. i THE SCIENCE OF BREEDING. The science of breeding' is of increasingvalue as the markets of the world demand better stocks of all kinds. Improvement is the watchword of the successful breeder; he is not content with breeding purebred stock of the improved breeds, biit he strives to improve upon each generation, just as we have raised the butter and milk records of the dairy breeds of cattle.

The skilful breeder looks to the breeding and individual merit, selecting such families and types as develop the highest excellence. This policy was followed generally in selecting stock from the best studs, herds, and' flooks of Europe, for .vhich we had to pay such enormous prices. Breeders and importers who have faith in the merius of their improved breeds and in their skill to maintain and improve the special qualities of the breed have laid well the foundation for success.

The skill of Booth and Bakewell .in the pioneer days of live stock improvement was lons a see-ret which has only been wrung

from history by the eager inquiry of out modern breeders, and who have evolved! from the experience and writings of successful breeders the science of breeding, which, with their own personal experience, has been developed by skill with a love and admiration for good stcck and an ambition to improve. Like produces liEef we all know, and a long line of pure bloodl ancestry will more surely reproduce itself. With superior individual merit in both sirei _ and diaan, and with a good pedigree, wo will breed typical animals of the breed of our ohoice.

Individual excellence alone will not brevet true to type, but rather back to the scrub ancestry; hence the folly of breeding to a grade sire. However fine-looking he may be, he cannot be relied upon to reproduca his type and individual excellence. Crossbreeding of two pure breeds for the first cross for tho shambles generally produces the highest individual merit, often better than either breed, but this cross again cannot be depended upon for breeding to prodxioe itself, and should not be>~ Repeated ors the second generation. An impressive sir© will often* make the reputation of tha breeder, and stamp his high quality upon the whole herd, and his get is sought for by breeders eager to improve. The skilful breeder who can secure the impressive sire of popular breeding and high individual! merit will win stiooess, and 6ome have had! the courag-e to introduce new breeds and! new families that have achieved for therm success. Such impressive sires are valuable, and it -often requires courage to^-risk so great a price in one animal, but they are the cheapest to buy.

The science of breeding and the principles of improving our stock are beneficial and profitable to the farmer as well as to the breeder, and are doing more to niake the farm pay and to keep the boys on the farm than anything else. Purebred stock is now so cheap, and all the improved breeds are within easy reach, of every farmer vho reads and has the ambition to improve his stock; but there are so many farmers who still prefer to breed to grade sires or anything that is cheap, and they fill our stockyards with the cheap scrub stock — these farmers will not read the stock journals. We have the markets of the world open for our high-class export stock of all classes. Demand is strong; from the ranches of South America andi Australia, and it is only with the improved' breeds we can compete, and these pure breeds must be bred up for consistent improvement.

The science of feeding is also being : rapidly developed, and is a strong ally to j the science of breeding; common and inj ferior stock no longer pays to raise, but ; in the production of the high grades in purebred stock of the various improved! breeds farmers have now the opportunity to achieve success. B>reed *only purebred! sires to grade up en the farm, and strive to improve each generation, and as fast as possible get purebred stock to replace the grades to get full benefit of the improved blood 1 . Interest the boys in pedigree stockbreeding-. There is no branch of agriculture more fa?cinating, more ennobling, and more profitable than the breeding of the improved breeds of purebred stock. WOOI, pH GOOD REQUEST. Conditions in the Bradford market remain practically unchanged from last week, and on every hand one meets with complaints concerning the unprofitableness of trad© and the difficulty to do satisfactory business. Topmakers and spinn.ei-s have to encounter the greatest obstruction from the ultimate consumer, who still maintains an attitude of absolute disregard to the statistical position of wcol, refusing entirely to follow in the upward course of values. There certainly is not a great deal to encourage speculation, and, as far as one can see, the present hand-to-mouth policy is going to be continued. The best article on tho market is the raw material, wool being good to sell at full market rates. The comparative ease with which men can get rid of the raw material is conclusive proof that it must be going into consumption somewhere, and that being the case, I fail to see how the persistent talk about lower wool values is going to materialise just yet. The worsted industry of Bradford is undoubtedly far from being in a satisfactory condition, still there is a big consumption proceeding outside, and this is relieving what would certainly soon become a rather funny state of affairs. Fine wools are selling at a price, and it is only in the case of an extremely super 60's top that more than 24d can be made. This is not a very satisfactory price, but spinners say that when wool becomes more plentiful tops will be lower. The cabled reports from Adelaide a week ago have not strengthened matters, though private advices from Sydney indicate very firm and! slightly higher value?. Personally, I cannot see how much change can be looked for this side of the New Year, all the wool coming to hand finding a ready consumption and a quick sale, thus proving 1 that the market is quite bare of stocks. If more trade was only forthcoming on home account, ife would speedily have its effect on Bradford, but there continues to be a turnover in dress goods and coatings of nothing more than mere shopping dimensions. Crssbreds are quiet, with 40's firm at 14£ d. The outside khaki or^ors are numerous, and being rushed thrown with all possible speed, consumption being maintained" throughout. A few more yarn orders from the _ Continent are stirring, but they are ladkinec in bulk. Mohair continues to be very flat, and Cape firsts are not worth more than 12£ d.