CATTLE DERBY

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160711, 26 July 1920, Page 12

CATTLE DERBY

£SOO PRIZES FOR FRIESIANS. The Xew Zealand Friesian breeders are out to show that although the;! cattle already hold all the world's records for production, their breed as a whole are far and away the greatest producers of butter-fat. The semiofficial test is the method by which breeders know the highest producers, and to encourage Friesian cattle breeders to enter their stocks in largo I numViers for tost, the X.Z. Friesian | Association decided at its anuual 1 meeting to offer prize money totalling ■ £SOO annually for a Derby contest. Tliis is bv far the largest sum evex ! offered for a prize of the kind in Australasia, if not in the world, and sliov.r. what faith the breeders of the ’ black and whites have in their cat- ! tie. The prize money will be divided ]as follows:—First prize, .£250; se* j cond. ,£100; third, £'so; fourth, £3O; I fifth, £2O; sixth, i.T-5, seventh, £l2 10s; eighth, £10; ninth, £7 10s; tenth, £5. At a meeting of the committed) formed for the purpose, the following j conditions were laid down for the conj duct of the Derbv: —Heifers eligible tft I compete for the first Derby must hava j been born since 30th June, 1919, and | prior to January 1, 1920. (For future I Derbies, however, competitors must be j entered as calves. This is with the ob- ; ject of '-a' ••••••aging breeders to give better and attention to the raising of their young stock.) Heifers must lie owned hy members 1 of the X.Z. Friesian Association, and rej giVrercd in the Association’s Herd Book. | Entries will lie accepted from Axis- ! trnlian breeder? of (a) heifers which j were fired in New Zealand, and (h| i daughters of Xew Zealand-bred sires I Heifers entered by Australian breeder* : to tie entered in a recognised herd book i AH entries must be made on the form j provided, and must reach the secretary at Palmerston North on or before 31st December, 1920. Nomination fee, 10s. AH competitors must be entered on j semi-official test before 31st December, 1921. and duly qualify in the two-year- | old division. The competition shall ba | decided upon first-class certificates of | production issued by the Department of I Agriculture. The Department’s system j of allowance for age shall be followed, the highest production of butter-fat above requirements for certificates to decide. An acceptance fee of 10s shall be payable on the date of entry in the semiofficial test. Late entries at the discretion of the Council may be accepted on or before that date on payment of a fine of £3 3s. District committees shall institute annual competitions for Derby candidates (yearlings), judged on tvpe at all shows in their district, these' replacing the present yearling heifer classes. ° At the metropolitan shows it shall be the aim to offer very substantial prizes for these classes. Prizes should also be offered by district committees for the best records (in order of merit) made bv Derby candidates under S.O. test in their district. Twenty per cent, of the prize money offered in the Derby to go to the breeders of prize winners.