BREEDING, FEEDING, AND WEEDING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3783, 14 September 1926, Page 19

BREEDING, FEEDING, AND WEEDING.

The following is the text of an address delivered by Mr E. Griffiths at the last meeting of the North Taranaki branch of the Fanners’ Union at Uienui—"To he successful and make dairy farming profitable farmers must devote constant thought to all their undertakings, and, in fact, a farm must be treated as a business proposition. Careful records must be kept of all manure dressings, and all cows must be tested so as to dispose of any unprofitable ones. Every expenditure of money and labour must be so directed as to ensure an adequate return. "Assuming that a farm is otherwise well managed, the three leading factors in building up and improving a dairy herd are breeding, feeding, and weeding. No one of these can be counted as of more importance than the other. If a cow is not bred for milk production, no system of feeding will make of her a dairy cow. If she be bred right she must be fed right. Milk is made from the food a cow consumes, and thus improper feeding will not produce good returns, or, to quote the words of a famous American authority:: 'The value of a herd of dairy cattle depends upon the methods employed in breeding and feeding. Other factors enter in to assist or retard th« ,

efforts of a breeder, but, regardless of ill skill employed in otherwise managing the herd, to ignore the laws of breeding and the principles of feeding is to invite failure. Breeding and feeding go hand in hand. He who applies the principles of feeding and disregards the laws of "breeding, or vice versa, cannot realise the greatest success/ “If we treat the matters alphabetically breeding demands first attention. Perhaps by making use of colours as symbols, one may be able to convey ideas in regard to breeding. For instance, if we liken the ordinary nondescript cow to a conglomeration of colours and a purebred cow to one of the cardinal colours (blue, red, or yellow) we get a basis of understanding. If we mate a cow of mixed colour with a mixed colour bull we get as a result progeny of mixed colour—i.e., progeny of no fixed type. An animal descended from nothing definite cannot be relied upon to fix any special characteristics in its progeny. Its descendants may take after any one of the leading features of any of its ancestors, and the bad are just as likely as the good to be transmitted. How often one found in earlier days a man keeping a bull from his best cow to head his herd. The breeding of both sire and dam were obscure and unknown. All that was known was that the cow was a good producer and that both parents were of mixed breed. Then as the heifers of this bull came to profit disappointment reigned supreme: not one heifer in twenty resembled the favourite cow. The cow herself probably inherited her milking propensity from some obscure ancestor, and it was not sufficiently backed up to be passed on ns a dominant character. Kature endows every cow with the

ability to produce milk sufficient to raise her offspring but if we are to make a profit from dairying we must breed cows that will produce heavily. We are given a cow developed up to a certain stage as a foundation to work on, and it remains for the ability and science of man to develop and improve her. Let us for a moment pass from the cow of mixed colours or mixed origin and think of the so-called purebred cow. Perhaps the Jersey will be the best example to use. Now the Jersey is essentially a purebred animal. Her type and remarkable ability as a producer were fixed a long way back in history, this being assisted in no small measure by the size of her island home. Jersey Island in size is as far as from Urenui to Waitara (10 miles), and is but little more than five miles across; and for 200 years no cow or bull has been allowed to land on the island, excepting for immediate slaughter. Thus we find a breed pure to start with, and always striving, by selection from within its ranks, to improve and fix its type and powers of production and reproduction. Reverting ta the idea of colour, we may call the Jersey the blue colour—intensely blue, by constantly mixing nothing but blue with blue. If we select a blue bull descended from the best producing animals of the blue breed and cross him with a cow of mixed colour the result will be progeny that favours the blue breed, just as if we mix colours in that way. Mix together a nondescript colour with a pure blue and the result is of a decidedly blueish appearance. In breeding, such an animal would be a grade—a first step up the ladder of improvement. If that animal be a male, ana is mated with a mixed coloured female the result' will be but little, if

any, better than the original mongrel cow, and if colours be similarly mixed the result will be a reversion almost to the original mixture. It may thereby be realised that the use of a grade bull is a delusion that will not mark any progress. To make any solid improvement a purebred sire must t- used. The result of the first mating will then be a grade that will favour the characters of that purebred sire’s breed. If a Jersey be used, never change and use a sire of any other breed, or the very characters that you have been striving to fix will become difficult to hold. Next season use another pure Jersey, and never deviate from this principle. It is important in selecting a sire that he be bred from heavy producing blood lines, is masculine, and of sound constitution. If the ancestors of a bull for several generations are of correct type, have well-shaped udders with well-placed teats, reasonable heart room, well-spread ribs, deep bodies, level toplines, high, open nostrils, broad muzzles, and bright, intelligent eyes the chances aTe that he will transmit these characters to his offspring. It is only the likeness of a bull’s ancestor, responsible for the blood in his veins, that one can look for in his progeny. Again, it is advisable that each sire used shall be reasonably closely related to the last sire used. In this way a violent outcross is avoided. For instance, if a son of Golden Lad be used for, say, two years, the next sire, to be used on his daughters, should be another son of Golden Lad or a bull Tich in Golden Lad blood. Don’t buy a bull merely because he is handsome; study his dam and hiß pedigree, and learn what is behind him. If a bull’s dam has a good G.O.R. teßt to her credit it is in his favour, but do not condemn a bull

because his dam is without one. She may never have been tested; look at the blood she springs from —that is what must come out in the progeny. Place full value on C.O.R. tests, but don’t condemn the other bull.

“In discussing the feeding oi uu.., cows one must look at the blatter purely from the profit-earning standpoint of the ordinary dairy farmer. Every dairy cow should have a rest from hard work of from six to eight weeks before calving. The rest has various advantages. The unborn calf is creating a severe drain upon the resources of the cow between the seventh and ninth months, and ample food must be supplied for that; otherwise the cow lias to part with blood and bone-making substance from her own body to supply the calf. If she he in poor condition and poorly fed both she and her calf suffer. Secondly, the cow should be storing up condition for starting the next season’s work, and this condition includes not only blood and fat, but phosphates, lime, and other minerals, of which she will be called upon to supply when milk-making begins. Every cow should start her milking season in high condition if the best is to be expected of her. At no period of the year does feed return so big a yield as when fed to the dry cow. All authorities on feeding lay that down absolutely. Whilst every farmer is always pleased to make use of a supply of roots, kale, or Chou Mollier, I believe the greatest possible attention should be paid to annual or biannual top-dressing with basic slag and super, with sometimes ammonia or potash added. The quantities must vary according to the land, but I am of the opinion that every acre in Taranaki should receive 3cwt or more per acre annually. The top-dressing

not only increases the amount of grass, but it makes it more palatable; it increases the cow’s milk production and adds phosphate to the system of the cow, replenishing what she has given off so freely in her milk, thus adding to her health and strength. This is a feature of great value, for it has been proven that an ample supply of phosphate fortifies the cow against the attacks of the contagious abortion germ and reduces or entirely does away with slipping. The New Zealand Co-operative Herd-testing Association, with its headquarters at Hamilton, last season tested 1335 dairy herds. The five leading herds are all grade Jerseys, headed by pedigree Jersey bulls. The five farmers owning these herds are all strong advocates of top-dressing and chain or tripod harrowing. Three of them use 7cwt to 7£c\vt annually, spread in the spring and autumn. The question of topdressing is to-day perhaps of more importance than any other to Taranaki farmers. The reason for this appears to he because milk production removes from the land more phosphate than do grazing bullocks or sheep. All animals return to the land a portion of what they eat in the form of excrement. For the upkeep of the body a comparatively small amount of phosphate is retained by the beef and mutton animal, and the balance is expelled in the excrement or dropping. The milking cow, on the other hand, extracts far more phosphate from her food, and passes it on to mankind as a valuable component part of milk, and her droppings, therefore, return but little to the land. It will thus be seen that if a generous milk flow is to be kept up the constant heavy drain on the phosphate content of the land by milking must be annually replaced by top-dressing, the most prosperous and successful dairy farmers in Taranaki, as elsewhere, are those who top-dress heavily and annually— not a few paddocks each year, but every acre on the farm. I may have devoted much time in this paper to topdTessing, but its importance warrants it. Assuming that full attention has been given to the pastures by top-dressing, harrowing, etc., the hay will be of better quality. The saving of a portion of surplus pasture should be stored in the form of ensilage. The proper saving of ensilage is so well understood now that failures are very rare, and should not occur. The advantages of ensilage are that grass and clover fields may be cut when their food value is at its highest point, and that value conserved to be fed at a period of the year when similar succulent food is not available, unless in the form of roots or specially grown greenstuffs, none of which equals ensilage. Fed with hay, it improves the food value of the hay by adding its slightly laxative properties, etc., and as ensilage may and should be cut earlier than hay, a quick and heavy growth follows cutting before the hot sun can get in and have a restraining influence upon the growth of the grass and clover plants. The plants are not so exhausted as is the case with hay, for they do not reach such a degree of ripeness, owing to being cut earlier. A daily ration of moose nuts, bran, and ground oats or other grain, to the extent of about 61b per cow, fed in the spring and until the pasture is plentiful, is considered by feeding authorities to be profitable. It increases the milk flow, and the increase may be maintained when pasture becomes plentiful and the feeding of grain has ceased. Grain-feeding may appear a much too advanced idea to-day, but I believe that, as farmers give more thought and attention to milk production and profit, grain-feeding will find its place in farming operations to some extent in this Dominion, just as it does in the older countries now. “Weeding is perhaps a better term than culling. It means casting out the undesirable and unprofitable. Experience shows that no man knows, without testing, which of his cows are returning a profit and which are the ‘ robbers,’ or cows which don’t yield sufficient to pay for their keep and milking. There is no mystery or difficulty about testing, and I know of no reason why any herd canuot be tested for a season. Also I have not heard of a herd that, when tested, did not show a certain number of cows that were yielding so poorly that their proper place was the meat works. Every superior herd in the country has been built up by weeding out the unprofitable cows and filling up either by purchasing cows of known production or by adding heifers bred from the highest producers of the herd and sired by pedigree bulls. The safe road to success and increased production is to follow what other successful men have done. As an example, take Mr A. E. Burwell, of Kaimata. The average production of his herd is round about 4001 b fat —slightly more, I think. He tests his herd every year. He has used the best pedigree Jersey bulls he could buy for many years. He adds a few heifers each year to his herd from his best cows, and each year has a few cows and heifers for sale. If this average be possible on the hilly land of Kaimata, it should be more easily attained on some of the beautiful - farms on this coast. It is just as easy to milk a heavy producer as a poor one, and both require about the same amount of food. If a man milking 40 cows has an average of 2201 b fat and he receives Is 6d per lb, his gross income is £660. If we deduct from this, say, £360 to cover interest, rates, and taxes, it leaves a net income of £3OO, from which the cost of manures and all manner of things must also be deducted. However, say the net income is £3OO. If the average per cow be increased to 3201 b fat, the net income is doubled to £6OO, and if it be further increased to 4001 b fat the net income rises to £B4O. Every farmer should be anxious to get as much as he can of that £540 increase. What others can do you can do, but it can only be done by using purebred bulls from

proven butter-fat strains, by regular topdressi ug, and herd-testing, or, in other words, by breeding, feeding, and weeding."