STRAYS

Southland Times, Issue 25359, 10 August 1935, Page 12

STRAYS

A World’s Record. What is stated to be a world record for a large herd of cows has been created by Mr T. H. Seed, -of Taihoa, Matamata. During the 1934-35 season the 170 cows milked by Mr Seed gave an average of 340.441 b of butterfat. At lOd per lb butterfat this equals £l4 3/5 per cow and £2411 3/4 for the herd. The test was conducted by the New Zealand Herd Testing Association. * » * * Giant Sheep. The carcass of a wether sheep shown at the Great Cattle Market at Crediton in 1895 weighed 2301 b exclusive of the head and offal —the largest sheep that has yet been killed. It was four years old and weighed 3301 b. The leg was 401 b., the shoulder 321 b. This extraordinary sheep was the object of much admiration. * * ♦ * “Mass Production.” Quintuplets and quadruplets have figured prominently in the news during recent months. Now the case of a cow with a “mass-production complex” has been brought to the notice of an English paper. The cow, which is owned by Mr H. Toon, of Green Hill Farm, Shallowford, Norton Bridge, near Stone, Staffs, has just given birth to four calves. The cow’s “quadruplets” were prematurely born. Two of them were dead. Mr Toon has never know such an event before in GO years’ experience.

Stud Sheep Export. Five Corriedale stud ram hoggets bred by Messrs Cochrane Bros. (Ashburton) were sold recently to Mr R. Winskill lor shipment, to South America, and will be shipped at an early date. A previous purchase by Mr Winskill from the Ashburton breeders secured a reserve championship at the Palermo international show, held at Buenos Aires.

Merino Importation. An outstanding addition to the merino stock of Otago has just been imported from Australia by Mr R. K. Ireland, of Oamaru, for use in his Mount Pleasant stud'at Omarama. The shipment comprised five stud rams from the wellknown Wanganella flock in New South Wales. The sheep show rather .more substance than the majority of recent importations, and they arrived in good condition.

Worthless Animals. A glance through the monthly summaries of herd testing associations in any part of the country makes it_ at once evident that the most effective way of improving the position of the dairy industry would be the drastic culling out of all unprofitable cows, for the herd-testing figures indicate that the number of cows being milked and which are not worth milking is surprisingly large, says an exchange. There must be many thousands of them. When it is realized that in the many herds not being tested there are probably an even higher percentage of worthless animals the serious loss from the use of cows that do not even pay for the grass they eat must assume alarming proportions. If dairying is to be placed on a business basis nearly fifty per cent of all the cows of the Dominion should be culled. With this urgent need facing the industry the time has come when herd-testing should be made universal, for the milking of cows that are definitely unprofitable is neither good for the individual farmer or for the country. With the use of only profitable cows and feeding and managing the profitable ones properly the production of the New Zealand cow could be more than doubled. Then it would be possible to produce butter-fat cheaper in New Zealand than in any other rival country.