THE BEST BREED OF COW

Southland Times, Issue 16786, 15 July 1911, Page 6

THE BEST BREED OF COW

FOR CHEESE PURPOSES. EXPERIMENTS WANTED. A subject of considerable interest to the dairying industry generally was touched upon by a deputation which waited on'the Minister for Agriculture, the Hon. T. Mackenzie, at Carterton, early in the week. The request made by the deputation’s spokesman, Mr W. Fisher, was that he Government should experiment with the different breeds of cows with a view of ascertaining which is best from the point of view of cheese manufacture. AN IMPORTANT MATTER. Mr Mackenzie admitted that this was the first tinie the request had come under his notice, and agreed that it was of great importance. He promised that, as far as the available funds permitted, the department would follow the question up. and said that if he could only find sufficient money he would be glad to do what was asked. It was a question whether the Government should get the dairymen to supply it with milk from the different breeds for testing purposes, or establish on one of its own farms a dairy factory where, under modern cdmlitions, the milk could be dealt with. He would certainly go into the whole matter with the officers of the department and any dairy association people who would give him the benefit of their experience. As far as his reading went the Holstein seemed to be regarcld as giving the very host results from the cheese-maker’s point of view. IMPROVING THE HERDS. The Government was already doing something in the direction suggested, and was endeavouring to establish good herds of the different breeds. The Holstein herd at Weraroa was being added to by importations ft’om Australia, and the Government was also sending to America for about £l2uo worth of stock. Probably they would get the host purebred bull that could be secured, and if tiny money was loft over it would be put into some heifers. From Australia a dozen of the lllawarra breed wore being imported, it was claimed for these cows that they wore good milk producers. good for cheesemaking and very good from the butchers' point of view. He had asked Mr Dunlop, the Scottish Agricultural Commissioner, who was out here recently, to secure in Scotland for the Government six Ayrshire heifers and one hull. The Jersey herds were also being added to, so that it would be seen that the Government was endeavouring to improve the quality of the stock as far as the means at its disposal would permit. (Hear hear.)