THE LONDON DAIRY SHOW.

Otago Witness, Issue 3019, 24 January 1912, Page 19

THE LONDON DAIRY SHOW.

REMARKABLE MILKING SHORTHORNS.

The loading feature of the London dairy ghow held in October last was the success of the* milking shorthorns. Interesting details are furnished in a supplementary reI>ort by the Live Stock Journal. The first prize cow, Darlington Cranford VI, shown by the Duke of Portland, ia worthy of comment, but no special notice Iras been made of her performance. In two days she gave 661 b of milk in the mornings and 561 b in the evenings, or over six gallons a day, while, instead of being near the standard, as is often the case with deep milkers, her milk contained 3.52 per cent, of fat in the morning and 3.97 in the evening, thus, she is both a deep and a rich milker—as we have so often remarked is the ease with well-bred dairy shorthorns. Wo would repeat the expression of bediof that those who are inclined can, without doubt, collect a herd of short.horn cows, pedigreed or not, which will milk well and produce 4 per cent, of fat—a belief which wi’l be verified late. - on. Darlington Cranford is not a big cow, nor does she carry one of those enormous fleshy udders which are so deceiving to the inexpert Her udden* is fiull behind and somewhat high in front, but broad and not pendent. The skin is fine and soft, the milk vein large,/ and the escutcheon indicative of good milking properties, but in this respect it is ccjual to the escutcheon of Red Rose, the winner in the dairy shorthorn class, to which reference is made below. The width at the top from fringe to fringe was 3ln, gradually widening until it reaches its maximum half way down the udder. Although the standard points for pure, shorthorns is 95, this cow gained 133 —a great tribute to her milking power. We refer to the second cow in confirmation of (his, inasmuch a-s, if her yield was smaller than that of the winner, the quality of the milk was higher. While yielding ever four gallons, the fat in the morning reached 4.53 per cent., and in the evening 5.03 figures worthy of Jersey cows of the best type. The winning dairy shorthorn, Red Rose, gained 145 points—the standard being 110—by producing l2Bib, or 12£ gallons of milk in two days, containing 4.18 and 4.49 par cent, of fat morning and evening. Here is support for the plea for a milk recording society, so far made fn vain. It has remained for others to load - us—the Danes, the Swedes, the Americans, and, last of all, the Ayrshire breeders of Scot- ,

land, who have already done wonderful work. The material for producing the finest milking- cattle in the world is in our possession; shall wo not use it? Although Red Rose is not of the very highest; type, she is a good cow. Her hips are 24in apart, her escutcheon has a width of 4in to Sin at the top, extending to Sin half-way down the udder, whih is excellent. A more surprising class of milk than that given by the second-prize cow, Mr Hunter’s Dolphinlee Dairymaid, wo have never known at Islington The yield was 1021 b for the two days, or five gallons daily, but tho fat percentage will scarcely be believed —6.38 and 6.77 morning and evening. It was estimated that tho butter produced should roach Bjlb per day, but it actually reached 31b 6ioz, and, of course, placed Dairymaid at tho top in the butter tests. It is time that the Jersey breeders looked to their laurels, while broedera of tho Lincoln Red have a standard placed before them, their champion being beaten for the challenge cup in spite of her first-class work —1181 bof milk, nearly six gallons, daily, and a fat percentage of 3.77 and 4.76 both of which aro first rate. Taking the shorthorn classes collectively, they have never shown to such advantage.