JERSEY CATTLE CLUB.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, 11 May 1925, Page 7

JERSEY CATTLE CLUB.

LECTURE AND DEMONSTRATION. •Twenty members of the-South* Canterbury Jersey Cattle Uiud- spent a very prohtabie time on Saturday' afternoon, when tney assembled on a. sunny biope at Mr i . 1. >v asiioouni s stud larm at buntnnciU, auu listened to a lecture aim watcneti a demonstration by Mr H. E. i>. watson, or Christ, cuurcli, tlie no.Od juuge of Jerseycattle. . . ,■ X'rior to his address, Mr Batson'invited members ol tne Ciuu to give then opinions; ami using two or. Mr \iasabourn’s cows lor u.o purpose of illustrating their remarks, M'-ss.s R. Mucldren ipresicictiu ot the cniu), D. Poaico, fc. Dale, and F. 1. u'ashbunni addressed the meecing in interesting stylo, and 1 hen took part in a judging competition. Ail lour awarciod icd ticket” to the cow which Mr Watson subsequently 1 said was the best. Rising a stocky, well-conditioned nine months’ old Jersey bull for tae pur;p<Jses of illustration, Mr Watson the i gave a talk on the points to be looked fir' in a sire; and while he advocated line-breeding anjl in-breed nr; as the quickest means of reaching the goal of maximum production, he said that this must be done with the greatest care. Mr Watson pointed out the folly. of paying hi"h prices for imported sires which had been in-bred for verv mamyears, when by the use of a little brain power they coubl breed just as good animals in New Zealand. lie went on to htress the point that it is a great mistake to devote all the attention to the sire when a herd is being built up, and said it was just as important to see that the dam is of the best class. T,he Productive records of the materncirncestrv of the sire should be obtained before buying a bull, those of his dun boin" the most important, and tlie records should he sat-V-ctor" for at least six o'enerctious hack. Like produced like, and if they got as near perfection as possible, both in the dam and the sire, they could expect success fibril the standpoint of milk and butterfat production much sooner than iffthey attempted to get it by merely pajying attention to the sire. No mhtter how good the cows were. s«cerfss would never be achieved until b n t i cows and sires possessed the qualities wnjqb were desired.- in . the .progeny Having satisfied himself on the'pedigree of a site, the buyer should see to it that the animal had the prepoteuev necessarv' for the reproduction of the ho®t traits of liis ancestors. this being indicated bv masculinity and character The animal should be above reproach in the matter of constitution, eapacitv. nervous temperament, blood circm’at’dn and what was termed abilifv. To determine tho presence, or the absence of tbpsQ. essentials, the s : re should be crefullv examined from head to tail. ' The nostrils should be wide, the mouth claree; the jaws broad, tho face long and slight’v dished, broad between the eves; ,y.-which- should-;, be large and Prominent, ulacid and expressive. .The horns should be heavy at the base and taper to the tips, reasonably large, but hot coarse, thi ear should be inclined to be small, of an orange colour inside and fringed with silkv hair; the neck should bo fang and clean cut from the dewlap to the throat latch, well developed in the region of the windpipe and well crested on top. Tlie shoulders should be oblique, tne top of the , shoulder being pointed so far as to give the animal a wedgeshaped appearance when looked at- from in,..front. Tlie heart girth ,ard barrel should be long and deep, the ribs deep and well sprung, the hide should be pliable and springy so that it could be picked up in folds by the fingers, and the hair should be fine and silky. There should he good width between prominent hip bones, great,length and straightness from the hip to the pin bones, and ample width through tho - thurls. Looked at from behind the thighs should be thin, curved, and free ; from. anv -beefy tendency. Tho presence of large, tortuous veins, and large, numerous milk wells on the sire were also desirable. The lecturer then dealt in detail with each of these, and other points; and having finished with the sire, ho got ono of the cows, in the paddock and dealt with it, first from the point of view of milk and butterfat production, • and then from the point of view of the 'show ring. Ho. mentioned that there are now 563.000 Jersey and grade Jersevs in New Zealand.. Some vears ago thev had been told that tho boom in Jerseys would d'o out, but instead rf dving out it had increased. . Tho fWrvin<r industry was now bringing in £2(1.000.000 annually to New Zealand, and Jerseys were very largely resnon6iblo for that. But the standard of production should bo raised, as »t easilv could bo bv selection and cubing and hreedina- onlv the best type of animal. An addition from 170 to 1751 b per cow would mean an additional million in the revenue from exports. A good Jersey would bring more than any other good dairy cow. Thero were now 1400 breeders of Jerseys in New Zealand, and they could not breed good Jerseys too quickly. Mr Watson,.replied to a number of questions, and was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for what was termed itbe best lectiu-o of its kiftd yet given -in Timaru. Mr Washhouro was also thanked for having placed his paddocks and, stock at the disposal of the club for the afternoon. Before leaving for their homes those present inspected with much interest Mr Washbourn’s methods of intense cultivation on his holding, which consists of 26 acres and carries 15 cows, 2 horses and 20 pigs. At present there is an abundance of rough feed on the place, and ample stored for winter use —hay and roots. And it is eighteen months since any feed was. bought. Of special interest among the iimplements shown was a lime end manure spreader which operates with great celerity. A silo with concrete sides going into the ground to a depth of 14 feet, vu seen with' ten tons of feed in it. This yonsists of fathen, maize. Japanese millet, and all the weeds of the farm. Put into tho pit in its green state the mixture heats, and the cmilago is fed to tho stock as a hot r’Hon' for cold weather. The largo, woll-kent, and productive oreknrd was also seen, as u-oro also the wall grown puvph’-ed Berkshire pi"s, all th,- Jersey rattle, and a big colony of English game fowls in a ppna-ous opan vard with tall troas. in which the ki'-M. i-nJ, It is seldom that birds of 1,-ind n rp ; n anv number, hn+ Wnskhnnrn find® them very profile Vila from the point of view of egg production.