RED POLL CATTLE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 168, 20 July 1935, Page 15

RED POLL CATTLE

DUAL PURPOSE BREED. N.Z. Farmers arc well advised to take notice of the big development that is taking place in this wonderfully adaptable, and truly dual purpose breed, under which varied conditions in Can ada, the United States of America, {South Africa ami Australia, as is indicated by the following extracts taken from the April, June and September issues of the English Red Poll Jcurnal. Australian Expert’s Review.—An in- ! (cresting review on the Red Poll breed is contained in an article appearing in I the January issue of the New Zealand I Dairyman, by Air. A. C. T. Hewitt.! dairy herd manager of the State Research Farm, Werribec. lie empha : siscs that the Red Poll, from the point • of view of quantity and quality ol milk produced, has borne a good repu tation, and thot in Australia this repu tation has been strengthened by the performance of the Victoria herd of Red Polls belonging to the Government Research Farm, where it. has been in existence for 24 years. The average production of the 195 cows tested in this herd during the last live years has been 7.8741b5. of milk, 4.38 test, and 3431b5. butterfat, equivalent to 4221b5. butterfat after adding the allowances for heifers. Breed’s Early Alatqrity Recognised. —ln making a strong point of the early maturing and prime beef producing qualities of tho Red Poll, Air. Howitt makes mention of the success of the breed, at the 1930 Melbourne Royal ♦Show; the carcase class open to all breeds, was won by a pair of two-year-old Red Poll steers. He goes on to declare that Red Polls commenced to make good right from the start. The birth weight of calves at Werribec has averaged 771bs. for bull calves and 721bs. for heifer calves. These calves, he remarks, can be developed into prime vealers, prime baby beef, or prime mature beef, while the heifers can also be developed into good dairy cows or good mothers for rearing calves. Breeding Qualities with Age.— At Werribec the aged cows that are retained for breeding purposes are often allowed to rear calves. Alany of those cows lire 15 years old and they always rear two and frequently three calves at once. Good IDocrs, Hardy, and Quiet to Work.—Such a successful commercial organisation is not likely, as should be obvious, tc associate itself with any particular breed by way of an experiment or hobby. Therefore, it is interesting to know that the New Zealand and Australian Land Company has formed a herd of Red Polls in Australia after having first ascertained that the breed can justify itself as one which meets the requirements of a livestock undertaking. This conclusion can be deducted from a statement just to hand that “this company has been using Red Poll bulls for many years on its North Queensland cattle ranch, where the breeders originally were mainly ♦Shorthoni or Shorhorn-Devon cross, and by the use of Red Poll bulls we have in the course of time evolved a useful type of lightweight beef cattle which are good doers, hardy and quiet to work. The bullocks always find a ready salp when fattened on our New South Wales properties, and being polled, travel much better over the long distances and in the bad travelling auditions usually met with in Australia The advantage of polled cattle for this reason is very great. ‘‘ A Marked Characteristic.” —‘ ‘ Tht prepotency of the Red Poll bulls is,” so tho communication proceeds, “a marked characteristic, and when

crossed with Shorthorns they take the horns off and put colour into the progeny in a very consistent manner.” A Great Awakening. Big Developments Overseas. —Nothing that has happened in the annals of the Red Poll breed at home or overseas is hardly comparable with the really astonshing developments that are taking place in South Africa and Australia. Practically every mail brings home fresh records of progress in these far-off lands within the Empire. More and more stock breeders are buying Red Polls to start new herds, and in so doing are replacing other cattle. Others are using Red Poll bulls for cross breeding in order to grade their cattle into pure Red Polls. This change-over from other breeds of stock to Red Polls is not the outcome of a sudden impulse of fancy for another breed. It is due to Red Polls having been tried and no: found wanting. The forthcoming consignment, sale of slud and grade cattle to bo offered at tho Ecilding saleyards on July 31, will afford those interested in tho breed au excellent opportunity to form their own opinions of representative N.Z. bred Red Polls.