THE JERSEY TYPE

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14092, 25 March 1939, Page 2

THE JERSEY TYPE

POINTS'TO LOOK FOR. DEMONSTRATION BY MR T. RANFORD. At the Young Farmers’ Club Field Day on Wednesuay at Rugby Park, a very interesting and useful demons tr a tion on Jersey breeding was given under the auspices of the Woodville Jersey Breeders’ Club. * A jersey cow and bull, kindly lent for the occasion by Mr A. R. Wylie, ot Nikau. were used for the demonstration, which embraced a discussion of the best dairy and show characters m both beasts.

Mr Ranford began by outlining the difference between the best stud and dairy types. The best stud was usually the best dairy cow. although it occasionally happened that a bad stud type was a good producer. A stud cow must conform to type, with even lines at top and bottom, but there was a refinement and fineness about every good dairy animal, which to the tutored eye was apparent at omce.

First there was a fineness of bone a good dairy animal always had a fine flat bone, like the cow here now 7 , which was an excellent dairy type. To begin with the head—this was preferably lougish, longer from, the eye to the nostril than from the eye to the horn buds. This gave the bead a bull-dog appearance, but with a bright, bold eye this wa s very attractive. In his experience, the shortfaced animal was a deceptive dairy beast, and many bad faults went with, it, one being early drving-off. A broad form of mouth was also desirable, enabling the cow r to get a good mouthful of food, so that her stomach was 'full more quickly and she was sooner lying down chewing the cud and producing milk which was her job “We like a bold but not a wild eye/’ Mr Ranford said, continuing over the head, “bright and alert without being wild or frightened or she is up and down all over the place. We like the dish appearance between the eyes and sloping up to the horns with a. good width between the eyes. The ear should be well set and nice to handle, so that you can almost feel the butter-fat in it. Many little points like this are essential to a good beast, and you can’t have a. dairy cow too good.” A good firm, deep underlip was desirable, and a good jaw. A long thin head usually meant unhealthy cattle All these points would be found in the best stud cow, although a dairy cow might not have all. the good points and still be a good producer. Nevertheless, it was essential thatdairy farmers should go for these good points. Mr Ranford pointed out a good width to the shoulder, tapering to fine withers. Open-ness of bone here w as good, showing a good blood circulation. and for a similar reason a wide nostril was desirable as it gave a good air supply and kept the blood pure. The libs should come down and then out—with a beef rmimal they came out and then down. In a. dairy animal, a good depth of body was w r anted, causing the “wedge’’ shape, a desirable character giving the constitution essential for the dairy. A well-sprung rib. though not necessarily a barrel rib was wanted. A good length from hip-bone to pin-bone was a good point, if this was short there was a tendency to tightness, and similarly a gcod width of rump was needed—this, in nine cows out of ten giving a good width to the udder, and a. well caught udder was also necessary. A sloping rump was not a good point, generally resulting in an ugly sloping udder with the teats pointing towards the Fore-legs. The pin-bones were preferred wide

with a correspondingly wide thigh ; and the tail well down, and the thigh wide and flat. Roundness of thigh , denoted beef, and fineness was what ! was required in a dairy animal. This, j Mr Ranford added, was a very nice j cow and showed all the good charae- , tors very nicely blended together. | She was as good as a demonstration | to look at. The udder should not have that. ; Cliristmas-pudding appearance, and j should be fine and soft to handle, j The teats should have a blunt ap- 1 pearance. the pointed teat often go- } ing with hard milking There should • be plenty of milk wells with veins, j often swollen and knotted, going i right along. * The general effect should be of even lines, both top and bottom, and slightly convergent. The ideal cow should give points whichever way it : was looked at, for example, a nipbone that “you could hang your hat on” was a good point. But Mr Ranford warned, care should be taken not to confuse fineness with thinness. This mistake had caused jersey breeders a lot of trouble, and a way to avoid it was by attending demonstrations, which made it possible to recognise the difference. With this fineness went a fine skin—not necessarily a thin skin but one that handled well and would pull off well. “All these points, Mr Ranford concluded. “will repay you as students of dairying to study as you go along. A cow with individual faults may happen to be i good producer, but doesn’t make for a good type. If you are a breeder, you must be strong for keeping on breeding for a good type and a nice assemblage of all parts for beauty.” Asked about the importance of the escutcheon, Mr Ranford said that it was desirable to have it high up and broad out, but in choosing a cow this must be taken in conjunction with the other points. “With regard to the bull,” Mr Ranford went on, “while we like beauty in sires, I would impress on you strongly that we prefer beauty in the progeny, and in addition the •ancestor’s performance is worth studying. It is a good man that can predict the former, and the only way to prove it is by using and testing

the bull’s daughters.” The same characters, generally, as in the cow were good, plus masculinity—there should be nothing of the effeminate about a bull. He shoui l be alert without being vicious. We could expect him to throw the points he had, but again it was important for the breeder when choosing a sire to find the families he had been produced from. In this respect, too. it was useful and important to compare the progeny a bull had thrown that were not to liis credit with those that were. The aim of the breeder was to produce something that would go on producing improvement. The 'Cat-ham,” hollow-backed bull was still found, yet although ugly might produce good stock—it was almost impossible by visual observation to place a bull at his value for getting stock. . . . , In the show-ring the bull needed plenty of depth and girth, a flat-bon-ed rib, coming down and out, but a flat rib should be avoided a s a sign of lack of constitution. v A nice width of chest and shoulders was good—not a bull that was cramped everywhere nor the round constricted type. Thickness across the shoulders was a bad point for a dairy animal/* The hocks must he wide—close-hocked cattle of both sexes were always giving trouble. “What you must look for,” said Mr Ranford, “.ire the general points of the cow, plus the masculinity of the bull, with plenty of. spirit and Interest without viciousness, and ab° ve all, a careful reference tc his ancestors’ performance and a study of his progeny/’