PROBLEMS OF TYPE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3743, 8 December 1925, Page 12

PROBLEMS OF TYPE.

Following upon our observations in last week’s issue regarding the growing demand for eaj-ly maturing stock, in order to pro vide the small, meaty joints which consumers demand, it is interesting to note the opinions expressed by Mr W. F. MLaren, of Naemoor, Scotland. This gentleman is well known by name at least to all breeders of Shorthorn cattle the wgrld over. In the course of his remarks on the problems of type in cattle breeding at a Scottish cattle conference last year, he said : One cannot emphasise too much the importance of type in cattle breeding, and especially in the breeding of beef Shorthorn cattle. One must never forget that the alpha and omega of breeding beef Shorthorns is to supply the world, or the largest possible portion of the world, with its requirements in beef, and towards this end type in the general sense is of vastly greater importance than super excellence in the particular. A herd of cows of one uniform type, with perhaps none of them very outstanding, makes a greater appeal to the true breeder than a herd with one or two cows of outstanding merit, the others being a mixture of all the types. It i 3 the type which tells in the long run, and the breeder who conforms to this axiom—for axiom it is—and breeds for the right type, must eventually come into his own, and his success will be more real and permanent than the breeder who occasionally and by accident turns out something outstanding, but who otherwise has disregarded type in his cattle. How often has one heard the remark, “Now there is a good animal; he has lots of faults, but he is the right type”; and again, “he may be a good animal; he certainly hasn t many faults about him, but he is the wrong type.” Take two* pnimals, each representative of the quoted remarks, and which of the two finds most favour? Other things being equal, the latter may gain some fleeting and transient success in the show ring, out in the herd the former scores nine times out of ten. It is a curious anomaly in Shorthorn breeding, and one which it is almost impossible to explain, that it is auite possible for an animal to be at the nead of a class at a show; —and perhaps rightlv so—and yet be inferior in intrinsic qualities to others in the class. Such an animal may be approaching the nearly perfection in almost every respect, and yet lack or hardly conform to that perfect type which every true breeder has in his mind’s eye, but can hardly define in actual words. It is a matter of instinct almost, and that is one reason why the inexperienced or inexpert breeder may do himself and his herd irreparable harm in securing at great cost an animal which has been a proi linent show winner, and without taking into consideration the essential question of type. It follows from these statements that a bull is of enormously, greater importance in a herd than any cow. The influence of the cow as an individual is a strictly limited one, whereas the influence of the bull is diffused throughout the whole herd and may eventually have results in regions undreamt of by his breeder or owner.

At the present time, says this Shorthorn authority, there are two distinct standards of type which command attention in the beef Shorthorn world. There is the short-legged, short-coupled, squarebuilt animal, carrying a wealth of flesh, evenly distributed, on moderately fine bones. He, generally speaking, responds quickly to good feeding, develops early, and is generally recognised as the standard bullock of Britain, Argentina U.S.A., and Canada. In Australia- and South Africa, more especially Australia, the demand hitherto has been something rather different. Thev have been breeding longer rangipr animals, the idea being that some length of leg was required to enable the animal to travel long distances for water. I have recently seen reports of some of the more important Australian shows and sales, and from these and the evidence of some of our home breeders who have recently visited the country, it seems that the Scotch type of Shorthorn is gaining in favour.

In regard to colour, Mr M'Laren considers this an almost casual element in Shorthorn breeding, and it is difficult to understand why colour should have any we.ight in determining the merits or demerits of a Shorthorn. A good Shorthorn should never have a bad colour, because colour is of so little use in the economic aspect of the breed and so little affects the inherent qualities of the individual that it should be disregarded. It is only too true, however, that colour play* a considerable part in pedigree breeding, and so long as popular fancy leans one way or the other so long will colour have a value ' * • ' ■ ** •

in £ s. d. far above what it deserves. Yet. apart from the experimenter in animal breeding, the question of markets must govern the question of type, and no average breeders can afford to disregard the wide demand for a certain type of goods.