THE HERD,

Waikato Times, Volume 114, Issue 19052, 16 September 1933, Page 19 (Supplement)

THE HERD,

Nature’s Lesson. In dealing with in-breeding as the one means of fixing type and of nature's lesson in tills regard, a writer in a city paper recently pointed out that nature has maintained the necessary , strength of constitution by “ruthless culling, when young, of every Individual animal which has'not the stamina to survive exceptionally hard conditions. This is the law of the survival of the fittest, which ensures that only healthy and physically perfect animals shall survive and be 'capable of reproduction." Now, nature’s method of maintaining vigour guarding against the evils of in-breed-lng goes much further that this. Certainly really weak ones are given no assistance to live. But the great lesson of nature Is that only the most vigorous, and most perfect, speolmena perpetuate their kind. They fight for the right. We remember the case of a trio of Black Orpingtons, the progeny of which were in-bred for nearly 20 years, and the last representatives of this intensely in-bred strain (which were then dispensed and lost sight of) were more vigorous even than their progenitors. Every year the breeder, Mr F. C. Brown, Government Chief Poultry Instructor, selected as his cockerel the cockerel that could “knock out” every other cockerel in the yard, and the breeding pullets were those this 'cockerel selected, those he would not allow the oilier cockerels penned with the best pullets

for the purpose, to approach. Here indeed was nature's method. Unfortunately it cannot be applied to other types of domesticated stock. With dairy cattle the progeny test is the best guide 'to the desirable sire. It is merely adopting the method of the great Bakewell. It will be realised that Bakewell leased breeding stock on a large scale, and he kept In close touch with all his leased stock, to observe their capacity as breeders. Bakewell used others to test out his stock. And he probably had another object in view. When In-breeding ..(and clo'se in-breeding as Bakewell must have used) it is a proved safeguard to bring hack selected members of the strain that have lived for some time under different soil and climatic conditions. * * * #* Tho Proved Bull. The proved hull, the most valuable animal in Ibe 'country, is very difileull |o obtain. Tim next best thing is a sire with proved auceslors. Look for a vigorous son of an outstanding cow and having ns much producing Mood on both sides of the pedigree as possible, and 11m more animals in ibe pedigree having continuous records of performance Hie belter. It Is llio long uninterrupted series of records that is the best proof we have of constitution —capacity for uninterrupted