ILLAWARRA BREED OF CATTLE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 88, 2 June 1911, Page 6

ILLAWARRA BREED OF CATTLE.

n QUESTION OF THEIR ORIGIN. The Scottish - commissioners, in thei report, have expressed the view tha the llhnvarra breed of cattle is wort, fixing and improving (says the Syci ney “Daily Telegraph”). This ma, bo taken as tho object of the Illawai ra Dairy Cattle Association. Tie association is nearing the end of it. first year’s operations. The manage ment. (says Mr Frank McCaffrey, lion secretary), which embraces tlio who! of the mombersliip, are, general!, speaking, pleased with the results taking, of course, duly into consider;! tion, the stern fact that every ad vanced movement must have a he ginning; arid that at the commence ment of such tilings there arc man; things cropping up—merely side is sues, so to speak—which have to lr carefully pruned or cultivated in cider to assist the growth of the mai body. Tho chief object of the assc ciation is tho placing on record th S’bilities that is now before : I of cattle that has been nc SW Ssam best of our Illawarra dairy cattl breeders are breeding their cattle o lines begotten of tiio experience o eighty years. Tho linos on which on. best types of cattle wore bred in tin past were evidently correct,' because we are breeding cattle successfully o; these same lines to-day. It has been said there is no learn cd man but will confess lie hath mucl profited by reading controversies; hi senses awakened, his judgment sharp oned, and the truth which ho hold, more firmly established. As seen tary of tho Illawarra Dairy Cattle A; sociati.on, I have from its inceplio held that the best types of our 111 a warra dairy cattle were a blond o' three breeds of cattle, all of whicl held much in common in their hloot originally, namely, the- Shorthorn Devon and Ayrshire. That there i; a blond' of these three breeds in tii make-up of our best typos of 111-i warra dairy cattle cannot bo gainsaid if wo take tho history books for ou guide. Yet when this statement wa: made by me at the first meeting lick for tho purpose of forming tho ass* ciation, and it was in due course pub lished in the press, it brought fori, coni ment and opposition from all sori and conditions of catlJo breeder; Now, before any further comment are offered, let my critics reason on tho following problems very carefully (a) Were not white cattle tho base o both tho Shorthorn and Ayrshir broods of cattle ? (b) Did the blue' Kyloo not play an important part i the blend which made up the origin al Shorthorn and Ayrshire breeds' (e) Whore did our red-coloured cattl* come from if they are not the rc< Egyptian cattle mentioned in ancient sacred history? (d) Are our Devo: breed of cattle not identical with tin red cattle of Egypt? (o) Does not a cross between a red and white—hull and cow—give a roan calf to mankind? (f) Does not a cross between i;Cd, white, and black cattle give in every colour •in cattle excepting om colour, and that colour is convoyed by crossing with the ancient Egypt ian buffalo?

These foregoing problems a re set t< catch ■ up tlio writers and talkers win are so profuse in their dcseription o* our Xllawarra breed of cattle and how to breed them. A theory is oik thing, but putting it into praciiso if another. Every Jllawarra dairyman during the past lifty years has mar veiled at the quality of the old types of cattle to be found once In lllawarra alone. "They sold them, and often sold themselves by doing so. <)l late years they have been trying to breed back into them; some few have succeeded, others have not been able to do so because limy did mu know how; and, if they knew, the;, have not the patience to put sue) knowledge into execution. Knowledge is never of very serious use to mat until it has become pin t. of bis cm; tomary course of thinking. Tin knowledge which barely ■ passer through the mind resembles that which is gained of a country by ; globe trotter who is whirled through it in a railway train hy night. Suck is tho knowledge gained of mtr sys tem of cattle breeding by men winvisit stud farms, and suck in with the air what they are told. Somethiuf more substantial is required to establish a herd of dairy cattle. With tho establishment of the best of om breeds of dairy cattle, there has been combined the' best talent, procurable in the country, hence the success of many of these associations. As already hinted, there are difficulties in front of the illawarra l)airy Cattle Association winch have to ho overcome. To-day we have I Id cows entered on onr book, that have passed the butter-fat standard. A few of this number have mit up Remarkably high test.s. Now, unless

a cow can Test iVLIy well in tliy presence of Dr. Babcock, she is not ol much commercial value to her owner. Vet it must not ■ he forgotten that a moderate test is often of more importance than a phenomenal one, inasmuch as the cow docs not overiest her constitution, and may remain a profitable caw lor a long period of years. There are, however, two demons to be guarded against in mankind : an excess of ambition, and jealousy. The ambition to lie in the front rank of cattle breeding is the most honourable of our ambitions: but let it lie honourable: on the other hand, jealousy of our neighbour’s cattle, or Ids success as a breeder, is despicable. One lias to refer to those tilings in. order to place before the ptuaiW trouble's that are being experienced.in the establishment of a work which, viewed as it may be, is one of the most practical ever entered upon in connection with dairyiing in Now South .Wales.