THE DAIRY SHORTHORN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 762, 7 September 1929, Page 27

THE DAIRY SHORTHORN

ORIGIN OF GOOD POINTS •one of the early bulls All things which are good in the Dairy Shorthorn today trace back to Hubback 319, states the “Livestock Journal.” He was a small bull, and his use upon “large, open-built cows” refined the cattle of the immediate district in which he was raised. Sinclair, in his “History of Shorthorn Cattle,” laments that if the Collings and Waistell had known how valuable a bull of his stamp and breeding was for the special purpose of refining the Shorthorn, they would have got more use out of him than they did. Hubback was one of the earliest bulls used by Charles Colling at Ketton. The bull came into his possession in a manner most romantic. Charles Colling was a regular visitor to the Darlington market, and an observant one, too. For a number of markets he was struck by the appearance of some calves sent up by Mr. Fawcett, Haughton Hill, Darlington, and when on Christmas Day, 1872, he dined with his brother Robert and Robert Waistell, at Burmpton, and the conversation turned upon good bulls, he was at once able to point to Ilaughton Hill cattle as indicating that there must be something very potent behind their uniform excellence.

The bull getting these young stock was then five years old, and was a vellow-red and white bred by Mr. John Hunter, a bricklayer in the village of Hurworth, who had sold oil all his stock on retiring from farming with the exception of one cow, which presented him with a bull calf. Dam and son were sold in the Darlington market; to Mr. Bassnett, a timber merchaint. who, retaining the cow, sold the calf to a blacksmith in Horrby. The young bull then went into the possession of Mr. Fawcett, doubtless passing again through Darlington mart, and it was while in this owner’s possession that the progeny of this sire caught the eye of the farmer of Ketton. From the Christmas dinner Charles Colling departed with a commission to purchase the bull in the joint names of his brother, Robert, and Robert Waistell. That commission he executed, paying for the bull the sum of eight guineas—some accounts say it was 10 guineas. On Christmas Day, 1873. the trio again dined together, and the two partners in the yellow-red bull—for it was Hubback —declared themselves willing to sell him. Charles Colling accordingly became his owner for the sum of eight guineas. DEATH RATE OF PIGS HIGH AMERICAN FIGURES Figures collected by the United States Department of Agriculture reveal that 52 per cent, of the pigs farlowed each year never reach the market. For every two pigs farrowed, one dies from accident, disease, or some other trouble. About two-thirds of the losses occur during tho first week, and about 10 per cent, during the second week. The greatest single item of loss is that caused by sows lying on the pigs. This mortality, which amounts to 9 per cent, of all pigs farrowed, can he largely eliminated by providing pens large enough for sows and litters, and by building guard rails around the inside of each pen. Other items of loss include five per cent, born dead, four per cent, born weak, 3.5 per cent, from intestinal infection, and various miscellaneous causes. Many pigs' ills and ultimate losses can be prevented, says Live Stock Journal, by raising them according to the system known as “swine sanitation.”

The number of cattle killed in the Dominion for export shows a considerable drop within seven 3-ears. In 1922-23 there were 125,083 head killed; in 1928-29 (up to 30/6/29) the number was only 32,730.