FARMING NOTES

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4535, 11 February 1942, Page 8

FARMING NOTES

THOROUGHBRED HORSES FARMER BREEDERS The farming community is taking a very great interest to-day in the breeding of thoroughbred horses, and many farmer breeders were represented at the recent national thoroughbred sales at Trentham. There were almost 100 individual breeders With entries in the catalogue, and nearly two-thirds of these may be designated as farmer breeders—that is, farmers who run only one or two mares and are not like the larger stud breeders who own stallions and breed extensively for the sales. For the second successve year a farmer breeder also secured the top price, which this year was 1050 guineas. The extent to which the national sales have been developed is indicated by the fact that in a year such as the present one the total realisations approximated £30,000. It was remarked this year that the entries from the smaller breeders were just as well grown and developed as those from the larger studs. That it is profitable, to breed high-class yearlings is indicated by the fact that twenty of the top yearlings in this year’s catalogue averaged 487 guineas, while the whole catalogue averaged 186 guineas. STUD SOUTHDOWN RAM During the past two yealrs not many Southdowns have been exported to Australia, as for the time being Southdowns in that country have been rather overshadowed by the larger breeds. Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Company, Ltd., advise, however, that they have recently shipped to New South Wales a high-class stud Southdown ram bred in the Kohatu stud of Mr R. M. Perry, Masterton. This ram, a very solid and evenlyfleshed sheep, is intensely bred to the prepotent sire Ford Christian, as both hid sire and his dam Were by the imported ram. His sire, Kohatu 74, was one of the best breeding sons of Ford Christian. Both of the top-priced rams at the Wairarapa stud fair recently, sold on behalf of Mr R. M. Perry at 185 and 230 guineas each respectively to Messrs W. Gimlett, of Hastings, and K. Dalziell, Palmerston North, were also sired by sons of Ford Christian. POLLED SHORTHORN BULL

An exceptionally low-set and very high-quality dark roan Polled Shorthorn bull was recently imported from North America for Mr Andrew Grant, Allandale, Fairlie, who has the largest herd of this breed in this part of the world. Since founding his Polled Shorthorn herd from importations made years ago from North America to Canterbury, Mr Grant has himself imported a number of stud bulls and stud females to add to his Allandale herd. The last importation was secured for him by Messrs Wright, Stephenson, and Company, Ltd., and is the prize-winning bull Walnut Grove Marshall. In addition to being a prizewinning bull himself, his sire, Collyne Sensation, was one of the most noted prize-winning bulls of the breed, and has sired a number of grand champion and junior champion males and females at leading American shows. Another of his sons in Oakwood Commander sired some of the leading prize-winners of the current year. Mr Grant’s latest importation should be a great asset to the Shorthorn breed in this country—all of his ancestors for five generations are polled.