JERSEY CATTLE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18546, 5 November 1934, Page 12

JERSEY CATTLE

WAIROA DEMONSTRATION ADDRESS BY MR. S. DALE (Herald Correspondent.) Til ere was a good attendance of owners of Jersey herds in the Wairoa district at the cattle ring on the Wairoa showground on Friday, when Mr. S. Dale gave an interesting demonstration of the Jersey breed of cattle. Mr. Dale, who is in charge of the dairy department of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile. Agency Company at Hamilton, in bis time lias been a noted breeder of Jersey stock. There were also present .Messrs. R. deß. Jlill, Wairoa stock inspector, Mr. It. G. Lockhart, inspector of agriculture under the Hawke’s Bay Education Board, Mr. M. J. Gemmcll. manager of the Wairoa branch of the Loan ami Mercantile Company, Air. J. T. Hobson, headmaster of the District High School, and a squad of boys from the secondary department of the school. Mr. F. Shaw, president of the recently formed Wairoa ‘ (II.B.) Jersey Cattle Breeders’ Club, welcomed those -present, and said he Kvas sorry that more had not attended the first demonstration at the instance of the club. He thanked Mr. Dale for coming to speak to them. Mr. Dale was formerly a South Island breeder of considerable experience, and he was in a position to disprove the contention held by many that the Jersey was a delicate breed, and, without any pampering, could bold its own against any other breed in the Dominion.

Ranged in front of Mr. Dale were a two-year-old pedigree bull and two pedigree cows provided by Mr. A. T. Rainbow, of Kahukura Farm, situated on the Paeroa block. The demonstrator said that in demonstrating on the Jersey he did not necessarily condemn the other breeds. Some liked the Jersey and others the Friesians. It was a matter of choice, but personally he liked the Jersey.

They had three good specimens in front of them, he added, and demonstrating on one of the cows, Mr. Dale set forth a long list of points. The cow in front of him was a good specimen, as its conformation was suitable for dairy purposes. The pin bones, if wide apart, showed the animal to be a good producer and a reproducer. He went on to deal with the tail and the escutcheon. Hocks should be wide apart, and there should be an abundant blood circulation. The “bottom line” was stressed as of far greater importance in the dairy cow than in the beef breeds. The points lie most stressed were constitution, capacity, dairy ability, and blood circulation. The cow with a narrow neck and a long face, they might be very sure, was not a producer as a rule. The cow with a good muzzle ensured that all the food went to milk. He dealt with the show type, and emphasised that it was the tester of cows on a farm that collected the money, and they should all test a few at a time if they could not afford to do the lot. Then, the cows must be looked after consistently, though, -perhaps, they nil knew that cows were not like sheep, and needed daily care in shifting from paddock to paddock, and even in such cold localities as the Mackenzie Country, where they were to be found on the snow-line, with 3ft. of snow or 30 degrees of frost, the Jerseys did well, so that it was quite a mistaken jdea that the Jersey was a delicate breed, and if they .never let them get hungry, but kept them well supplied with stuff grown on the farm, supplemented by hard feed, they could keep up their

condition without any bother. Again, lie stressed the importance of the under line, mailing it a maxim—“no under line, no cow.”

A number of questions were put to Mr. Dale by the dairy farmers present, and all of them were satisfactorily answered, the demonstrator still further elaborating the points which he hud already carefully stressed. He then demonstrated the points of a very fine Jersey bull provided by Mr. Rainbow, following the lines of his examination of the co'Wj and in delineating the characteristic head, eyes, nose and chest, lie said that what they found in the bull that was up to the highest requirements they got in the progeny. There was no need to go abroad for the true Jersey type; they had it here in the Dominion, but if they did wish to go abroad let them go to the original Home of the Jersey. Mr. Shaw thanked Mr. Dale- for his interesting lecture, and said he was sure it would benefit the club greatly by increasing their "knowledge of the essential points to be looked for. His thanks were also due to the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company for making the visit possible, and the A. and P. Society for the use of the grounds for the demonstration. He hoped that many other such gatherings would follow. Mr. Rainbow received thanks also for bringing along the two cows and a bull.

Mr. Dale, in reply, said he would only be too pleased at any of the Shows, or at- bis own home town, to help the Wairoa dairy farmers in any way he could.