JERSEY CATTLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3775, 20 July 1926, Page 12

JERSEY CATTLE.

TARANAKI BREEDERS’ SCHEME. HAWERA, July 13. An attempt to create a market in Otago and Southland for high grade Taranaki Jersey dairy cattle is about to be made by the breeders in this province, and plans are well advanced for a trial shipment of 10 cows to be sent south in the next few weeks. The scheme, which has been enthusiastically received by herdmasters, is being promoted by the district Jersey clubs. The idea is that the consignment shall be regarded as product of Taranaki, so that although the best herds in the province have been offered for selection, and although the choice will be made by qualified judges to ensure the 10 best cows available being Included, no mention of the breeders’ names will be made in the advertising that is to precede the sale in the south, the aim being to advertise the province. It is understood, however, that the breeders’ names will be available on application to the auctioneers, while Individual breeding and record of each animal will be published widely. The object of the promoters is well set out in a statement by Mr E. Griffiths, a member of the Council of the New Zealand Jersey Association, who told the breeders’ meeting that he had been informed by leading dairy farmers that there was a pronounced dearth of Jerseys in Otngo and Southland, and any animals showing Jersey blood were keenly competed for. If a limited number of the best grades in Taranaki was sent down and offered for pale a month after landing good

prices were assured. It was all important that the first consignment should create a good Impression, and foster a subsequent demand for cows of a high production standard. It was estimated that the entire cost of transportation would not exceed £l3 per cow, and the prices which it confidently anticipated would be realised should show a fair margin of profit. Apart from the question of profit on the Initial shipment, however, the primary aim of the project was to advertise Taranaki cattle and build up a market and a keener demand in the far south, where there was already a pronounced desire for adopting grade Jerseys. The initial consignment was being forwarded to Gore, where, about a month after calving, the cows and any heifers would be sold. The animals may not all be purebreds, but the quality will be well guarded by the following conditions laid down for the guidance of the Selection Committee: — (1) Cows must be sired by and in calf to pedigree Jersey bull. (2) Must be guaranteed sound, and must calve within about a week of August 21. (3) Must be of good Jersey type. (4) Cows with association test preferred. (5) Cows of four years to six years of age preferred. Commenting editorially on the enterprise, the Hawera Star to-night says: “Thu prices that have ruled at Taranaki Jersey sales this season suggest that the local market has almost reached saturation point, which at once accounts for the present move, and explains why it was not taken earlier. Provided northern stock can acclimatise itself successfully, and can reproduce its Taranaki productivity, there need be no doubt about the demand. Tests such as some of the good grade Jersey herds in this province consistently return at factories are openly doubted in the south. Although the island cattle are by no means unknown there in the Lower Mataura Valley on some of the finest dairying country in the South Island, these pioneer Taranaki Jerseys should have every opportunity to make good. They will have to fight for popularity against the firmly established heavier breeds, but the southern farmer has a reputation for shrewd judgment, and once won over to a new fancy he is an enthusiast.”