BREEDING AND FARMING

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21084, 9 July 1938, Page 15

BREEDING AND FARMING

HOW SCIENCE ASSISTS FARMERS Consumption to-day, said Dr John Hammond, in Australia recently, was not what it was 100 years ago, and what the wealthy classes were eating to-day it was hoped the poorer classes would eat to-morrow. As different commodities were being eaten it became necessary to concentrate on those that were growing in importance. The upper classes to-day were consuming more milk and butter than the poorer classes. Lamb and pork were taking the place of beef in England with the ‘better off” people, and pork of high quality would cut out beef of low quality. Because of this trend, the English farmer had to continually improve quality. Farmers sought more money for what they supplied, and the consumer was always looking for cheaper food. Because of these things the main line of English research was for the reduction of the costs of production. Nowadays, tenderness in meat was sought, whereas 50 years ago. when hard manual labour was the general rule, people liked fat meat. Now lamb was required in place of mutton, and the 18 months to two years’ bullock was needed more than the fully-matured beast. Because the size of the average family had decreased, smaller joints were required for the table. In addition to pleasing the consumer, Dr Hammond went on to say, the producer had to please the retailer, who needed a profit. As he had to purchase the whole carcase, it was natural that he would seek that carcase with the greatest proportion of higher-priced parts, such as leg, loin and shoulder. Science had begun the study of change in the proportion of animals, both in regard to age and breed. Change in Shape In growing, the sheep not only increased in size, but also in shape, and it had been proved that certain breeds changed more favourably in shape than others, both at periods of growth and in maturity. Scientific discoveries had shown that, with a combination of breeding and nutrition, it was possible to promote the development of early maturing types for market purposes. Proper shape meant double the amount of edible flesh, and in feeding suitable animals less food was wasted bi the making of offal. In Australia he had seen wonderful schemes of pasture imnrovement. but he had been im-

pressed by the lack of improvement in breeding that would make pasture betterment fully worth while. Greater flesh bulk in relation to surface resulted in less drying in cool storage and cooking, and more succulent meat followed. In order that the discoveries of the scientist could be passed on to the producer to give him a standard in breeding and feeding, a scale of points had been developed by which to judge lamb carcases. The scale of points could be used as a scientific basis for details of quality, and enable any producer to know how r«r his sheep and meat were meeting market demands, i Another table showed the fat-produc-ing nrooensities of different breeds.