CERTIFICATE -OF – RECORD BULLS.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XII, Issue 6, 20 June 1916, Page 451

CERTIFICATE -OF - RECORD BULLS.

W. M. SINGLETON,

Assistant Director, Dairy Division

In the last issue of the Journal comment was made on certain certificate-of-record bulls and the production of butter-fat by their C.O.R. daughters. The following notes refer to other certificated bulls that have attained an enviable reputation amongst dairy sires: —

JERSEYS.

Starbright. The bull Starbright was bred by Mr. J. A. McCrea, of Palmerston North, and first saw the light of day on 17th September, 1906. His sire, Starlight, was imported from Australia, and is the sire of Sabean 111, which produced 625-38 lb. butter-fat in 365 days.

Eight of Starbright’s C.O.R. daughters, were bred by Mr. A. A. Ward, of Tariki, Taranaki, five of them being tested by him. Mr. Ward also tested, as mature .cows, Psyche, with 531-24 lb. fat Waif's Glory, with 522-19 lb. fat; and Michaelmas Day, which produced 480-87 lb. fat. Five of Starbright’s C.O.R. daughters are from these dams, while another is inbred from a daughter of Michaelmas Day. With such foundation stock, Star bright had an excellent opportunity to “ make good.” That he has done so is a credit alike to himself and to Mr. Ward’s original herd. ‘

The record of Miro, a daughter of Starbright from Waif’s Glory, has attracted considerable attention. She was the leader in the two-year-old class for a time, with a record of 548-69 lb. fat, which is almost double her standard of 276-20 lb. fat. Tuna, a half-sister of Miro’s dam, and sired by Starbright, as a four-year-old produced 437-74 lb. fat. Waif’s Frisky, a full sister of Tuna, qualified for a certificate by producing in 336 days 419-93 lb. fat in the class for three-year-olds, her standard being 309-30 lb. fat.

Starbright is the sire of three C.O.R. daughters from Michaelmas Day. The best of these records was made by Waitui, which produced 463-38 lb. fat as a three-year-old. Nellie, also as a three-year-old, has a certificate for 367-84 lb. fat in 349 days; and

Michaelmas Daisy, in the four-year-old class, produced 337-74 lb. fat in 302 days. Polly, a daughter of Starbright from his own daughter Waitui, produced 409-22 lb. fat as a two-year-old.

Only two other daughters of Starbright exceeded their requirement by as many pounds of fat as did Polly. One of these was Polly’s dam, Waitui. So far as the record is an indication, the inbreeding evidenced by Polly’s pedigree was not injudicious.

Two other daughters of this bull have also produced creditable records. Palm-tree, in the four-year-old class, has a credit for 411-70 lb. fat. Tui, whose dam is Psyche, referred to above, produced as a two-year-old 358-66 lb. fat in 320 days.

It will be noted from the foregoing remarks that the progeny of a number of these daughters of Starbright are backed by C.O.R.

figures for two generations, and that the strains indicated in a number of the pedigrees have been well proved as producing-lines.

FRIESIANS. Colonel Manor of" Riverside.- —-The name of the Friesian bull Colonel Manor of Riverside has been brought to the fore as the result of testing work done by Messrs. C. A. Hopping and J. Liggins. This bull was imported by Mr. C. Hopping, and is the sire of- five certificate-of-record daughters, all of which were bred by Mr. Hopping. The best record held by any one of this bull’s daughters is that of Lady Mooie Blanco HI of Ashlynn. She commenced her test at

the age of 5 years 295 days, and in 321 days produced 15,022-40 lb. milk, containing 652-21 lb. fat. Doubtless this cow inherited some of her ability as a milker from her dam, which in 241 days produced 10,602-80 lb. milk and 401-43 lb. fat. Not only is Lady Mooie Blanco 111 a heavy producer of milk and butter-fat, but that she transmits her qualities to her offspring may be noted from her daughter's record as a three-year old, which stands at 14,671-70 lb. milk, containing 626-06 lb. fat, in 290 days. Sunflower of Ashlynn, in the three-year-old class, produced a record which reflects credit on her sire, Colonel Manor of Riverside. In 251 days she gave 11,308-80 lb. milk, containing 498-30 lb. fat. Riverside Violet, another daughter of this bull, was tested by Mr. C. A. Hopping as a two-year-old. In 297 days she produced 11,762-20 lb. milk, containing 398-98 lb. fat.

Two of the daughters of this bull made their records on the farm of Mr. J. Liggins, Tokomaru. Each cow was in the mature class, and each did creditable work as a producer. Ashlea Daphne in 302 days has a production of 12,352-0 lb. milk, containing 463-36 lb. fat, while Ashlea Cissy in 286 days gave 10,457-50 lb. milk and 404-96 lb. fat. Both Ashlea Daphne and Ashlea Cissy represent a mingling of the American strain of the sire with a dam representing Mr. Grigg’s breeding.

Paul Pietertje. — Paul Pietertje is a son of Sir de Koi Inka Pietertje; who has twelve certificate-of-record daughters. His sire and dam were both imported from North America by Mr. Newton King when he founded , his purebred herd.

Paul Pietertje was purchased from Mr. King by Mr. J. Donald, who placed him at the head of his herd at Westmere, Wanganui. To daughters of this bull bred by Mr. Donald ten certificates have been awarded.

In the Westmere herd Paul Pietertje was mated with females of the strains imported from Holland by Mr. John Grigg, of Longbeach. A .general survey of the C.O.R. testing results indicates that this system of breeding — i.e., the mating of sires of North American descent with females of Dutch lineage—has frequently produced very satisfactory results, and in many instances the progeny have proved of outstanding excellence. It was by using Nazli de Koi, a full brother to Paul Pietertje, . .with foundation cows descended from Mr. j Grigg’s importations that Mr. G. Aitchison, of Kaitangata, got such splendid results. - ’ '. ■ •

Netherland Princess IV, the highest C.O.R. daughter of Paul Pietertje, is well known to those readers of the Journal who are interested in purebred dairy stock. Her production of 805-77 lb. butter-fat has been exceeded only once in Australasia, and then by an older cow in New Zealand. The dam of Netherland Princess IV was Netherland Princess, a daughter of Netherland Queen. VII, which cow produced 659-31 lb. fat under our checking system, although no certificate has been granted. Two full sisters of Netherland Princess IV were bred and tested by Mr. Donald. Of these, Westmere Princess Pietertje gave the higher production. Commencing at 1 year 236 days of age, for 303 days she has a credit of 424-10 lb. butter-fat from 11,113-70 lb. milk. The other full sister, Princess Paul Pietertje, in the two-year-old class, produced in 280 days 10,388-60 lb. milk, containing 386-08 lb. fat.

All of Paul Pietertje’s C.O.R. daughters were tested young. Westmere Duchess V commenced at the' age of i year 304 days, and produced 13,724-80 lb. milk, containing 461-17 lb. fat. Caroline Paul started her first season at the age .of 1 year 295 days, and

in 314 days produced 325-16 lb. fat. The succeeding season she commenced her record in the two-year-old class and raised her repeat certificate to 402-85 lb. fat. Brookland Johanna Pietertje was sired by Paul Pietertje,Jher dam being a daughter of Netherland King, an illustration of which bull appeared in the May Journal. In the two-year-old class this daughter produced the creditable record of 417-17 lb. fat in 305 days. Another daughter of similar breeding to the foregoing is Netherland Duchess Pietertje. This young cow, in the three-year-old class, in 331 days produced 11,019-70 lb. milk, containing 383-82 lb. fat.

The last daughter of Paul Pietertje to qualify is Domino Queen. She is a granddaughter of Domino, imported by Mr. J. Grigg, and bears the same relationship to the imported cow as does Domino 111, who, before the commencement of the C.O.R. testing, had a credit at the Weraroa Experimental Farm for 365 days of 21,264 lb. milk and 762-4 lb. fat. Domino Queen milked 334 days and produced 322-21 lb. fat as a junior two-year-old.

With the exception of Netherland Princess IV and Caroline Paul, all of these daughters of Paul Pietertje made their records during 1914-15. This was a particularly dry season at Westmere, and twice-per-day milking was followed much of the time. The productions are, therefore, more creditable than the abstract figures indicate.