Where Beef is Beef

Southland Times, Issue 14333, 29 April 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

Where Beef is Beef

(N. B. Agriculturist.)

The bull sales have opened well, and the ‘black men’ have good cause for feeling jubilant over the results of the sale of polled Angus cattle at Perth There were no outstanding cracks of sensational quality, and no record-breaking prices certainly, but on the other hand, the general average quality ot the stock there exposed has rarely been higher, and the trade was jn accordance with the quality of the stock, the gen'eral trade having rarely been better. An average of £3l 16s 4d for 256 yearling bulls, with equally satisfactory prices for cows and heifers, was good business, and should put the devotees of the polled Angus breed in good heart. One very gratifying feature of the sale -was the large proportion of the best animals that were bought for service in new or comparatively new herds founded in England by enthusiastic breeders. Both exposers and purchasers also noted with much satisfaction the signs of a revival of the North American demand, one of the Rallindallpch bulls and another from Auchorachan b®ng bought at good prices for breeders in- the United States. Quite a feature of the show was the conspicuous success of two new exhibitors at Perth, namely, Mr Cran, of Morlich, and Mr Adamson, of Careston Castle, the former breeder with only two exhibits carrying first in the senior class of yearling bulls and second in the junior class, while Mr Adamson carried first in the class for two-year-old heifers.. Mr Cran is an ‘old polled Angus hand,’ though he never exhibited at Perth before ; but Mr Adamson is a comparatively young breeder, who only came out as an exhibitor of Carestonbred polls last year, so that his early success must be particularly gratifying to him, and furnished a convincing proof of the skill and sound judgment with which the materials for building up his herd had been selected. . As already noted, there were no record-breaking prices at the sale, but there were excellent averages all over ; and one of them came nearly up to record mark, this being the Ballindalloch average of £BB 17s 3d for eight animals, which is not so very far behind, the record average of £95 18s obtained by Mr Whyte, of Spott, in 1897, when Jipsey Baron materially helped the average of the lot by realising the record price of 240 gs. Mr Cran also had the highly satisfactory average of £79 16s for bis lot, which consisted solely of his first and second prize-winners. A good deal of criticism has been heard about the fact that the course of prices was conspicuously out of harmony with the awards in the prize-list, and that the highest-priced animal at the sale, namely, the Ballindalloch bull, which was bought at 190 gs for the new herd that is being formed by Mr Perrins at Ardross, was only fifth in the order of merit as fixed by the judges. Anyone who knows anything about breeding pedigreed stock, however, can easily understand how the course of jrices may not follow the order, of the prizeist. The judges, of course, have to judge the animals on their individual merits, whereas breeders who know their business have to take account, not only of the individual merit, but also of the pedigree of the animals,and they very wisely set great store by a pedigree which traces back through an unbroken line of distinguished prize-winners on both the male and female sides. An animal of the most illustrious lineage may often be’marked by a plainness of appearance which militates against his chances in the show-ring; but he has the right blood in him, and the chances are that, if suitably mated,he will beget stock of as high quality as the most distinguished of his ancestors. The Ballindalloch bulls scarcely had a look in to the prize-list this year,but the breeders were prompt to note the Iliad, Young Viscount, and Erica blood in their pedigrees, and acted accordingly. It may be noted also in this connection that the Spott-bred bull, Junior Rover, never got very far forward in the prize-list himself; but for all that, he begot the record-breaking 240guinea yearling bull, whioh was first prizewinner at Perth in 1897, and he is represented by another first prize-winner at Perth this year again. The judges selected for the Perth show are gentlemen who not only know their work well, but may also be trusted to do it well, and the Perth first or second prize-winners are never far from the top when the ‘Royal,’ the ‘Highland,’ and the ‘Royal Northern’ shows come round.