History of New Zealand Milking Shorthorns

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 81, Issue 1, 15 July 1950, Page 41

History of New Zealand Milking Shorthorns

THE success achieved by the Milking Shorthorn herds at the Dilworth School of Agriculture, Auckland, and at the Ruakura Farm of Instruction (now the Ruakura Animal Research Station) is one of the topics dealt with in this article by J. M. Ranstead, of Matangi, which concludes a series on the history of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorns. The first and second parts of this history appeared in the May and June issues of the “Journal,” respectively.

'T’HE last of the early importations A of Australian Illawarra Shorthorns was made late in 1915 by the Dilworth Trust Board. The Dilworth School of Agriculture, Otahuhu, Auckland, had just been established under the direction of Mr. Primrose McConnell, late manager of the Ruakura Farm of Instruction, and Mr. McConnell had set out to build up an outstanding dairy herd. After buying a number of the best non-pedigree Milking Shorthorns that could be obtained locally and at Mr. Gordon Salway’s sale, where he also bought the imported Darbalara cow Dainty 7th and her heifer calf Lady Mary, Mr. McConnell imported 2 bulls and 7 cows from Australia. The publicity that had been given to the show and production records of the Darbalara cattle and the reputation that Mr. McConnell had made, through his numerous articles in the New Zealand agricultural journals and farming papers, created a wonderful demand for the young bulls bred at Dilworth. Bull calves by Marlborough of Darbalara (imp.) out of non-pedigree cows without official records of production sold readily by private sale for prices up to 100 guineas. . Record Prices at Dispersal Though the herd proved such a success, the School of Agriculture did not prosper, and in 1919 the Trust Board decided to disperse the herd. At the sale, held on December 1, 1919, breeders from all over New Zealand attended and record prices were realised. , Such high prices had never been heard of for Milking Shorthorns in New Zealand and a sensation was created when Mr. James Parkinson, of Opotiki, paid 650 guineas for the imported bull Marlborough of Darbalara. Mr. Parkinson also paid 350 guineas for the beautiful imported cow Posey 3rd of Coleville. Mr. McConnell’s purchases at the Salway sale proved a good investment, as the imported cow Dainty 7th of Darbalara brought the highest price for a female at the Dilworth sale, being purchased by Mr. P. J. McLeod, of Helensville, for 365 guineas. The imported Lady 1 Mary, also bought from Mr. Salway, went to Mr. J. .Law, Waikato, for 100 guineas and her daughter Dilworth Lily, by Mr. Salway’s imported bull Rose Prince, went to Mr. G. Chamberlain, Ponui Island, Auckland, for 140 guineas. Dilworth Chic, Dainty 7th’s daughter by Marlborough, went to Mr. McLeod for 100 guineas. Mr. Salway’s non-pedigree cow Bell Block Nancy, which had given the highest yield in the Dilworth herd, died before the sale, but she had paid her way, for

her bull calf by Marlborough had been sold privately for 100 guineas. Her daughter Dilworth Nancy 2nd, by Marlborough, sold at the sale for 80 guineas to Mr. Hann, of Stratford. The other imported stock sold well: Rose 4th of Darbalara was bought by Mr. J. L. Turnbull, Christchurch, for 150 guineas. She was a beautiful cow and the following year won the championship at the Christchurch show. She was considered a model of Shorthorn dairy type and is the cow depicted in the standard of excellence published in the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association’s herd books. Vera 2nd of Coleville was purchased by Mr. B. H. Slack, Otaki, for 105 guineas and Caroline 3rd of Darbalara by Mr. J. McGovern, Waikato, for 91 guineas. Dilworth Beauty, out of Caroline 3rd by Lily’s Cupid of Darbalara, was bought by Mr. J. Glasgow, Waikato, for 168 guineas and her twin 11-months-old daughters by Marlborough were bought by Mr. McGovern for 78 guineas apiece. Dilworth Constance, out of Connie 4th of Darbalara by Emblem of Darbalara, was bought by Mr. Law for 81 guineas. Some of the non-pedigree cattle that Mr. McConnell had purchased locally sold for high prices. Dilworth Belle was sold for 320 guineas to Mr. Turnbull, and Mr. J. Irwin, Auckland, paid 180 guineas for her daughter by Marlborough.

The success of the Dilworth sale stimulated interest in the Milking Shorthorns and created a great demand for bulls. Until that time young bulls had been sold privately at the Ruakura Farm of Instruction, but in April, 1920, an auction sale was held which proved so successful that the sale became an annual event. Ruakura Herd When Mr. McConnell went to Ruakura as manager he was a keen admirer of Milking Shorthorn cattle, having had considerable experience of this breed while dairying in Britain. In 1913, while at Ruakura, he had reported:— , Numerous enquiries are to hand for Shorthorn bulls of the milking strain, and, as showing the confidence that is now being placed in this breed, I may mention that a newly dropped calf from one of our best cows was sold for £35. It is hoped that our small herd of nonpedigree Shorthorns will be improved by the importation of a few of the best that can be imported (14). The small herd of non-pedigree Shorthorns referred to had been purchased by Mr. McConnell at various dispersal sales of dairy herds in the Waikato. The herd was headed by the Australian Illawarra Shorthorn bulls Melba’s Prince of Darbalara (imp.) and Dominion Abram 2nd of Ruakura (imp.), but it was not till after Mr. McConnell left Ruakura that more Illawarras were added to the herd. When Mr. McConnell arrived at Ruakura he found a large herd of almost purebred Coates’ Herd Book Shorthorns, headed by English bulls that had been imported for the special purpose of being made “available to dairy farmers for service to approved

cows at a reasonable fee” (15). These cattle were quickly got rid of, 60 heifers grazing at Waerenga were sent to the Rangiriri sale and sold as grades, and the rest of the herd were fattened and sold as beef. Although the Ruakura Coates’ Herd Book herd was dispersed, it had left its mark on the dairy herds of the Waikato. Many farmers had sent some of their best cows to Ruakura for service and their bull calves had gone into general circulation as dairy bulls. Mr. A. W. Green, who followed Mr. McConnell as manager, made it his business to buy back some of the best of • the females left in farmers’ herds by the Ruakura bulls. Ten cows and 10 heifers were bought back from Mr. 'T. C. Blackett, Te Kowhai, and several from Mr. J. McConaughey, Otahuhu, and Mr. M. Mulcahey, Eureka. These were registered as foundation cows in the newly formed New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association’s Herd Book. Through the years some of the imported bulls had been sold cheaply, when they became old and sluggish, to local farmers and had left many, good daughters. One of these, entered as a foundation cow in the new herd book as Maniaroa Princess and tested under C.O.R. by Ranstead Brothers, Matangi,- gave 15,9501 b. of milk, 7001 b. fat, and for some years held the New Zealand mature-cow record. First Annual Sale _ln April, 1919, the whole of the . pedigree Darbalara Milking Shorthorn herd at the Weraroa Experimental Farm was transferred to Ruakura; many of these cattle were imported and made a valuable addition to the Ruakura herd. By 1920, when the first Ruakura annual sale was held, Mr. Green had become president of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association and the Ruakura herd of Milking Shorthorns was the most important in New Zealand. In 1925, in the introduction to the catalogue of the sixth annual sale, it was stated that: — It Is worthy of note that six out of seven class-leaders for Milking Shorthorns under Semi-Official test in the Dominion are by Ruakura bred bulls. These record breakers were bred by Ranstead Brothers, Matangi, and were by two bulls bred at Ruakura by Darbalara sires out of locally bred non-pedigree dams. The first of these, Dominion Esau of Ruakura, was then the leading C.O.R. bull of the breed, for besides Matangi Quality 4th’s wonderful yield as a 4-year-old of 22,0101 b. milk, 9781 b. fat, his daughters in the Matangi herd had won 14 Ist class certificates of record, averaging 5331 b. fat. They had competed in 5 classes out of 7 under C.O.R. and had won 5 class leaderships. The best six records of Esau’s daughters in the Matangi herd averaged 7121 b. fat. The second bull was Dominion Glaxo of Ruakura, whose daughters had won 7 Ist class certificates of record, the 4 best averaging equal to 6621 b. fat at maturity. Two of these daughters had won class leaderships, one in Ranstead Brothers’ herd and one in the herd of the Hon. Mrs. Blythe, Auckland.

Mr. Green left the Ruakura Farm after the sixth sale and became the organising secretary of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association, a position that he held with great success for 20 years. After he left Ruakura competition from other breeders became stronger and it became evident that Ruakura would have to do more testing to maintain the position previously held in the breed. In a later sale catalogue it was stated that: For some years previous to 1926-27 the only records kept of cows at Ruakura were farm records. These were made under disadvantageous conditions, in that the whole herd was used for instructional purposes and the milkers were changed weekly. In order that the cows might have a chance to show their capabilities at the bucket it was decided to put a number each year under C.O.R. test, with the object of having ultimately C.O.R. records for all females in the herd. These cows are milked by one man and are kept in a herd by themselves, but are Still milked twice daily by machine and this fact should not be lost sight of when perusing the records below. During the five seasons in which cows have been tested the following records have been established:

In all, under C.O.R. test, twice-a-day machine milked, average age 4 years, the average yield of 33 cows was 4341 b. fat in 342 days. During the depression the demand for pedigree stock fell off, and the fourteenth and last Ruakura sale was held in 1933. The herd was carried on for some years on a reduced scale, gradually • diminishing, until when Ruakura changed over from a farm of instruction to an animal research station the Shorthorn herd was dropped altogether.

Twenty-year Break Owing to the New Zealand Government’s embargo there were no further importations of Illawarra cattle for more than 20 years, until in 1937 Messrs. G. D. Hall and Son, Kio Kio, imported a bull, Martha Vale Cloister, and later a second bull, Martha Vale Ajax, together with 4 in-calf heifers. These were bred by Messrs. J. W. Treloggan and Sons, Martha Vale, St. Helens, Tasmania, who were the leading Illawarra breeders in Tasmania. Their team of 7 cows entered for the 1937-38 Lactation Herd Test Competition of the Australian Illawarra Shorthorn Society won the Tasmanian branch’s prize offered to members securing the highest yield of butterfat in 273 days during the period of the competition. The average for the 7 cows, which put up their records off natural pastures only, was 4531 b. fat. Influence of Illawarras The early importations of Australian Illawarra Shorthorns may be summarised as follows: —

These relatively small numbers of imported Illawarras had a most important bearing on the development of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn breed. The dispersal sales of Wright and the Dilworth School and the bulls bred and sold by the State farms and Fisher spread the blood all over New Zealand. Most of the breeders, in the North Island especially, thus cut themselves off from the Coates’ Herd Book.

Some, indeed, had done so previously by using Lincolnshire Red Shorthorns, the following importations of which had taken place in 1911: —

But the Lincolnshire Reds were not popular. At Mr. Buick’s sale in 1918 Coates’ Herd Book females brought the highest prices. Mr. J. Parkinson, Opotiki, paid 193 guineas for Cloverlea Fancy A2, and Mr. J. Witham, Waiuku, bought Cloverlea Fancy A for 70 guineas. Mr. Parkinson also paid the top price for the Lincolnshire Reds, 87 guineas for Cloverlea Stylish Fl, the next highest in price being purchased by Mr. W. Gadsby, Waikato, for 41 guineas. Mr. William Taylor, Waikato, bought the imported Lincolnshire Red bull Cloverlea Gunner for 46 guineas, but there was little or no demand for the other bulls offered. Mr. Taylor was the largest breeder and exhibitor of Coates’ Herd. Book Shorthorns in the Auckland Province. He was a beef breeder and the Lincolnshire Reds were only a sideline. About 1920, however, he entered the show ring with Lincoln Butterfat,. a beautiful Lincolnshire Red yearling bull which proved unbeatable in the Milking Shorthorn classes. Mr. E. A. Washer, Okaiawa, purchased him privately for 100 guineas after awarding him first prize in his class at the Cambridge show. This was about the last publicity that the Lincolnshire Reds received. From the early. 1870’s, when Mr. Bluett took over the publication of the New Zealand Shorthorn Herd Book from Sir George Whitmore, Canterbury had been the headquarters of the breed, as when Mr. Bluett gave up the work the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association carried it on. It is little wonder, then, that the Canterbury breeders gave no support to the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association, newly formed in Palmerston North, but in 1914 started their own New Zealand Shorthorn Cattle Breeders’ Association. They took over the herd book from the Canterbury A. and P. Association and catered for the dairy section by making provision for the .publication of records of production and publicising the existing Coates’ Herd Book grading-up scheme. During the next few years very little use was made of these facilities by the dairying section of the breeders and a few drifted away to the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association. In 1913 the Waikato Dairy Shorthorn Association had been formed, but by 1917 it was absorbed by and became a branch of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association. This precedent having been made, some time later it was considered that the formation of a local branch at Christchurch would stimulate interest and steps were taken to do this. In April, 1910, Mr. J. Hodges, president, and Mr. T. H. Windley, a member of the council of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association, while on a tour of inspection in the South Island met a

gathering of members of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association in the office of Mr. J. L. Turnbull, Christchurch. Mr. Hodges addressed the meeting and after some discussion the following motion was carried unanimously:— That those present, being Canterbury members of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association, form themselves into a committee with power to add to their number, to approach the council of the association with a view to forming a branch of the association in Canterbury. The approach was made, permission was granted, and on June 7, 1919, the first meeting of the Canterbury branch was held. Mr. Turnbull was elected president and Mr. R. Peach representative on the central council. Vale Royal Herd Mr. Turnbull had just founded his Vale Royal herd at great expense, purchasing some of the most expensive cattle at the Cornwall Park and Dilworth sales and many others privately at extremely high prices. Very shortly afterward, for private reasons, Mr. Turnbull was forced to disperse his herd. Held at very short notice and poorly advertised, the sale attracted only local buyers, who obtained these carefully selected animals at a fraction of their original cost. Though the sale was unsatisfactory for Mr. Turnbull, it gave the new breed a boost locally. Many of the members of the new branch exhibited their cattle in the classes which were now provided for Milking Shorthorns. This led to a certain amount of confusion, as at the Christchurch show the rival Shorthorn society also had classes allotted to it for dairy as well as beef cattle. Typical Coates’ Herd Book cows from the dairy herds of Canterbury Agricultural College, the Sunnyside Mental Hospital, and other well-known breeders were compared with the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn cows by the general public, and the following extract from the Christchurch “Sun,” November 26, 1921, reflected the popular opinion:—

At the recent Metropolitan Show one could not but marvel at the diversity of the type exhibited in the Milking Shorthorn classes. There were Shorthorns of good milking, character, animals which showed characters distinctly Ayrshire, and yet others that would not have disgraced a Jersey ancestry. Why should there be this diversity of type ? The cause is not far to seek. In or about the year -1913, a Milking Shorthorn Association was formed, and this organisation published a Milking Shorthorn Herd-book. Included in this herd-book were non-purebred cows showing or having the appearance of Shorthorns. Bulls were also registered. The mating of such animals could have only one result, namely, disaster. . . . The majority of the foundation dams and sires originally entered in the Milking Shorthorn Herd-book had no purity of origin; they were simply taken on their appearance. The result of these matings is evident in the Milking Shorthorn classes at the various shows. ... How could the Milking Shorthorn Association have avoided this state of affairs? The answer is by a good sound foundation stock of Shorthorns, and by the term Shorthorns cattle registered in a standard herd-book are meant. The formation of the Milking Shorthorn Association was a step in the right direction, and the body is to be congratulated on the endeavour to reclaim the milking qualities of the breed existent in bygone days. . . . In any necessary reform the first step is for the Milking Shorthorn Association to combine with the Shorthorn Society of New Zealand. The Shorthorn Society of New Zealand being the older institution, [?] and also being the publisher of the original New Zealand Shorthorn Herd-book, [?] should be approached by the Milking Shorthorn Association, and an endeavour made to reach an amicable working agreement and obviate the publishing of two herd-books one antagonistic to the other. The younger organisation should not expect the Shorthorn Society to register all the cattle which are registered in the Milking Shorthorn Herd-book, but the Shorthorn Society would register all animals showing the requisite number of top-crosses of registered Shorthorn blood. The amalgamation of the two herdbooks would be the only difficulty. Some breeders who have cattle entered in the Milking Shorthorn Herd-book would be indignant that their cattle were not eligible for the New Zealand Shorthorn Herd-book, but surely the Shorthorn Society would meet these breeders until the requisite number of registered Shorthorn crosses came in the pedigrees of the progeny. Then the progeny would be numbered and entered in ■ the ' New Zealand Shorthorn Herd-book. No breeder could expect bulls, the progeny of these cows, to be entered until the required number of registered Shorthorn crosses appeared in -the bulls’ pedigrees. . . . Surely what has been done in the British Isles can

be done in New Zealand. In a dairying country such as this, registered dairy Shorthorns can be bred provided the foundation is well and truly laid. About the same time, in a report on the exhibits at the Waikato show, a scathing criticism of one of the Government’s imported Darbalara bulls appeared in a local paper. This bull was referred to as resembling “a cross between a working bullock and an Indian buffalo.” Grading Up of Stock What the writers quoted were suggesting was a grading up of the Milking Shorthorns with Coates’ Herd Book bulls. This would have been a lengthy process and out of the question for those who had crossed with the Illawarra breed. But some of the breeders still had Coates’ Herd Book cows and many had cows with one or more top crosses from which cattle eligible for the Coates’ Herd Book could have been bred up. There is no doubt that there were some very good dairy cows among them. For instance, in the Waikato, Maniaroa Princess, by the Ruakura-bred Coates’ Herd Book bull Red Light, had a C.O.R. of 15,9501 b. milk, 7001 b. fat. In the Manawatu Mr. D. Buick Jun.’s Coates’ Herd Book cow Studleigh Nancy Lee, twice champion at the Palmerston North show, had a C.O.R. of 17,1771 b. milk, 6231 b. fat; and Mr. G. N. Bell’s nonpedigree Shorthorn Dairymaid, also twice champion at the Palmerston North show, had just broken Maniaroa Princess’s record with a yield of 15,3501 b. milk, 7231 b. fat. Unfortunately, owing to calving late on completion of her lactation, she failed to qualify and was awarded only a second-class certificate. Also in the Manawatu Mr. Edward Law’s Maisie, C.O.R. 10,0211 b. milk, 4311 b. fat, one of the first Shorthorns to qualify under Semi-Official Test in New Zealand, was a non-pedigree Coates’ Herd Book cow, bred by Mr. G. N. Wood, Otauru, and traced back to the original cattle of Archdeacon Hadfield, of Otaki. She was purchased from Mr. P. Hemingsen, an employee of Mr. Wood’s who had bought her for a house cow. In Canterbury Mr. Robert Peach’s Coates’ Herd Book cow Duchess of Clydesdale 2nd had an unbroken record in the show ring and was champion at the Royal Show, Christchurch, in 1927. She had a C.O.R. of 10,6051 b. milk, 4261 b. fat. Two of her Coates’ Herd Book granddaughters, tested later by Mr. J. Peach, put up the following records: Ashley Bank Winsome, senior 4-year-old class leader, C.O.R. 17,6871 b. milk, 7311 b. fat; Ashley Bank Sea Spray, C.O.R. 16,2801 b. milk, 7101 b. fat. A grading-up scheme might have been brought into effect a few years later when the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association decided to import a shipment of Dairy Shorthorn bulls from England. After all arrangements had been made, however, an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in England prevented the importation. British Dairy Shorthorn Association ' Since Mr. Gilruth < had selected Shorthorns for the New Zealand Government in 1901 the British Dairy Shorthorn Association had been formed. The chief work of this

association lay in milk recording and it may be said that it was among the pioneers in this direction. Where in 1908 there were only 10 herds under this scheme, by 1922 there were more than 300. In conjunction with the Shorthorn Society the Dairy Shorthorn Association provided a gradingup scheme, whereby the female produce of an approved and inspected cow might ultimately be entered in Coates’ Herd Book (sa).

Bulls were now available for export from tested cows, and Major Buxton, president of the British Dairy Shorthorn Association and a member of the council of the Shorthorn , Society of Great Britain and Ireland, who made a tour of New Zealand in 1924, laid before the council of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association a plan which he thought might develop a market in New Zealand for this type of animal. Besides helping the British breeder by finding a new market for him, there was a possibility that the two New Zealand societies by this arrangement might lose their antagonism and work together along friendly lines as did their sister societies in Britain. Major Buxton proposed to approach some of the most important breeders of Dairy Shorthorns in Britain and persuade them to donate, or offer at a muchreduced price, suitable bull. calves to the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association by way of an advertisement for British stock. These would be shipped as calves to New Zealand and sold by auction on their arrival. The proceeds of the sale would be held by the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association and used as the nucleus of a fund for the importation of a further shipment which would be purchased in Britain at market rates. This scheme was adopted by the council in March, 1924, and a sum of £5OO was voted to defray the expense of importing 10 bull calves. One of the members of the council, Mr. J. Bateman, Invercargill, was actually on his way to England to superintend the importation when an embargo on the importation of stock by the New Zealand Government caused the scheme to be abandoned.

Resumption of Imports

After the unfortunate failure of Major Buxton’s scheme, 15 years elapsed before a British Dairy Shorthorn bull was landed in New Zealand. In 1939 Mr. L. Barkla, of Hawera, imported Histon Wildeyes Bandmaster, bred by Messrs. Chivers and Sons, Histon, Cambridge. This bull had a good milkrecord pedigree and his three nearest dams averaged 12,0131 b. milk in 328 days. His sire, Chickenham Bandmaster, was a qualified bull with 19 qualified daughters and his dam, Sally Wildeyes, was a qualified bull breeder by milk yield. Shortly after this Mr. A. W. Hurford, Doyleston, Canterbury, imported the British Dairy Shorthorn bull Iford Cartoon 23rd, bred by Messrs. J. and H. Robinson, Iford Farms, Lewes, Sussex.

This bull had an excellent milk-record pedigree. His sire, Iford Lawrence 4th, was a register-of-merit sire under Dairy Shorthorn Association regulations, having 77 qualified daughters up to October, 1938. His dam, Iford Cactus 42nd, was a qualified bull breeder, having a record of 14,6311 b. milk on her third calf, and his 7 nearest dams’ records averaged 10,8531 b. milk. About the same time, Miss Breen, of Hastings, imported a bull, . Eft jay Sapphire’s Treasure, bred by Wing Commander F. Fielding- Johnson, Caine, Wiltshire. This bull also had a good milk-record pedigree, but was not eligible for Coates’ Herd Book, owing to' the fact that the pedigree of his dam Sapphire was either too short or non-existent. Had her calf been a heifer, it would have been

eligible for registration under the British Dairy Shorthorn Association’s grading-up scheme; as a bull calf it was not, nor was it eligible for entry in the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Herd Book under the existing conditions of entry. However, Sapphire had just put up a new world’s record for daily yield— l3l|lb. of milk in 24 hours, finishing her lactation by producing 26,6771 b. milk in 418 days, an average of 631 b. per day. This excellent record was taken into consideration 1 when Miss Breen applied for registration. After considerable discussion it was. agreed to relax the conditions of entry and admit Effjay Sapphire’s Treasure to the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Herd Book. The council’s decision was influenced by the fact that some old foundation cows were still leaving bull calves with pedigrees just as short as that of the bull under discussion, and these were eligible for entry in the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Herd Book. One of the leading breeders had used . such a bull for stud purposes. He had followed this bull with another out of the same cow (Riverdale Florrie 2nd), was still using this bull, and was proud to advertise the fact.

Riverdale Florrie 2nd's Record >■ ' I

Riverdale Florrie 2nd, bred by Mr. T. Wardlaw, Bay of Plenty, tested at the age of 11 years, had a C.O.R. of 17,3601 b. milk, 7611 b. fat. She was purchased at Mr. Wardlaw’s dispersal sale by Mr. J. McGowan, Waiuku, Auckland, for 62 guineas. Mr. McGowan continued to test her, and her production probably constitutes a record for the

* C.0.R.; other tests G.H.T. If her previous lactations had been recorded and added to the total, it would have been hard to surpass. At 17, at the Royal Show, Auckland, Riverdale Florrie 2nd was awarded the British Dairy Shorthorn Association’s Challenge Cup, judged on type and production combined. Outstanding Non-pedigree Cows So far, with the exception of the Dilworth herd, no mention has been made of the non-pedigree foundation cattle in the herds around Auckland. Practically none of these was registered until 1919, when volume 3 of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Herd Book appeared. Included in volume 3 are two foundation cows about which no information is given except their colour (red), but both were destined to play a very important part in the development of the breed in New Zealand. The first, Glenthorpe Lady, entered and tested by Mr. A. J. Melville, Buckland, C.O.R. 20,1321 b. milk, 8561 b. fat, has been mature class leader since she made her record in 1923. Her blood has been very widely spread throughout New Zealand by her grandson, Muriwai Pride. The second,, Pukekite Rangi, entered and tested by Mr. Robert King, Buckland, C.O.R. 12,9021 b. milk, 6051 b. fat, was purchased by Mr. G. N. Bell, Palmerston North, who retested her, this time gaining a C.O.R. of 13,3651 b. milk, 6221 b. fat. Her blood was very widely dispersed through her son Pukekite Rangitira. Many of these non-pedigree foundation cows must trace back to the dispersal of the stock of the New Zealand Stud and Pedigree Stock Company of

Auckland. This company registered in volume 1 . (new series) of the New Zealand Herd Book of Short-horned Cattle, published by the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, 1884, about 70 females, nearly half of which were imported. Judging by the herd book entries, the company appears to have purchased the whole of the studs of Messrs. R. and E. McLean, Bleak House, Auckland, and Mr. T. Morrin, Wellington Park, Auckland, who were the leading Auckland breeders at that time. The company seems to have gone out of business shortly after its inception, and neither the writer nor the committee set up to help him has been able to trace any of . the cattle. That they are not alone in this respect is proved by the following extract from A. Turnbull’s “History of New Zealand Pedigree Shorthorn Cattle” (1949): What became of these cattle, or who comprised the personnel of the company, is a complete mystery. A specially keen search by the

writer when visiting Auckland failed to solve the problem. The Auckland Deeds office advised that the volume concerning the company was still missing after an intense, search. Similarly at the Lands and Deeds office advice was that certain deeds relating to the' company were missing, the explanation here being that in rebinding the volume the binders had evidently misplaced these deeds and replaced them with a blank page ! However, other deeds gave the information that the company had in 1883 taken over 732 acres near Auckland and 8863 acres bordering the Waikato River from the Auckland Agricultural Company and had in 1886 resold these properties to the -vendors. Whether the Stud Stock Company went bankrupt is not ascertainable, but it may well have been so if the results of their cattle-breeding operations are any guide. What became of all these cattle it is now impossible to say. Certainly the great majority of them have, disappeared without a trace left in any existing Herd Book. It may be that a few were exported, as is shown by the following condensed report taken from “The Auckland Weekly News” of August 9, 1884: — “On the 30th July the New Zealand Stud and Pedigree Stock Company forwarded by. the s.s. Rotomahana one of the most important shipments of pedigree cattle and sheep to Brisbane that has left these shores for some time. The consignment consisted of 23 Shorthorn and Hereford bulls and cows.” The following report taken from a mid January issue of the paper of 1885 seems to shed a good deal of light on the probable fate of a majority of them:“A draft sale of the New Zealand Stud and Pedigree Stock Company’s Shorthorn and Hereford cattle was held at Remuera on the 6th January, 1885. The demand for cattle was very slack . indeed, a very large • proportion of those offered finding no purchasers. Four bulls were offered including the Duke of Newcastle, which won the Blue Ribbon in Australia some years ago and for which 1,500 guineas was offered and refused. On Tuesday there was no bid, beyond the moderate reserve of .50 guineas, so he was passed in. Mr. J. C. Firth bought two fine 2-year-old Shorthorns at 85 and 75 guineas respectively and a white youngster 10 months old, showing plenty of quality, was bought bv Mr. James Gould for the moderate sum of 20 guineas. The highest bid obtainable for yearling Shorthorn heifers was 12 guineas, at which two were purchased by Mr. R. C. Greenwood. All the others were passed in, there being no bid above the reserve of 5 guineas. Twelve 2-year-old heifers were all. passed in, there being no bidding. The Shorthorn cows brought prices ranging from £lO to £7-15-0.” Artificial-breeding Trial Since those previously mentioned there have been a few more importations from Britain and Tasmania.

There has been none from Australia because of the embargo, which is not likely to be lifted owing to the prevalence of pleuro-pneumonia in the Commonwealth. The president of the Australian Illawarra Shorthorn Society, Mr. Graham Shirley, while on a visit to New Zealand in 1947, arranged with a few of the North Island breeders for an experiment in artificial breeding. With the cooperation of the New Zealand Department of Agriculture this took place in 1948, thus overcoming the embargo. Mr. Shirley lent his bull, Camelot Victory, free of charge, and semen for artificial insemination was flown from Sydney to Auckland. The experiment was successful and a few live calves were born. It remains to be seen whether further advantage will be taken of this latest addition to breeding practice. Another innovation has been the opening of a polled section of the herd book. Permission has been given for the introduction of the polled character through the use of American Polled Shorthorn blood, but to date this movement is only in the experimental stage. Support for Herd Improvement In its endeavour to keep abreast of the times the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association has supported the Official Sire Survey and the Lifetime Merit Register of the New Zealand Dairy Board’s Herd Recording Council. In sale catalogues records from the above are given prominence and compare favourably with those of the other dairy breeds. For instance, Mr.' N. J. Ward, Canvastown, has 5 “Elite” cows by one sire, Matangi Superfine 15th, in the Lifetime Merit Register. These 5 cows have an average lifetime production of 51881 b. fat. One of the best bulls disclosed by the Sire Survey was Kereone Eclipse, bred by Messrs. R. D. Cochrane arid Son.

This bull, surveyed in the herd of Mr. A. E. Bates, Rototuna, has the following final figures to his credit:— 15 dams, 73001 b. milk (4.3 test), 3161 b. fat. 15 daughters, 81801 b. milk (4.61 test), 3771 b. fat. 29 daughters, 78201 b. milk (4.66 test), 3641 b. fat. Classification Scheme In 1925 registration conditions were relaxed to the extent that the inspection for type , was abandoned and entries were accepted on pedigree records alone. The result was that, though a standard of excellence with a scale of points for judging Shorthorn type and character had been drawn up and published in volume 8 (1927), breeders interpreted this scale, according to their own ideas. To overcome the lack of uniformity of type that had been evident since the formation of the association, and still persisted, a voluntary classification scheme was adopted, and in volume 16 (1944) the first list of classified cows appeared. Cows, 4 years of age and over, were classified according to type into classes V.H.C., H.C., and C. by classification committees comprising two official judges and the official inspector for the association. In volume 17 (1947) a register of “5.8.” cows (superior breeders) was opened. To qualify it is necessary for a cow to have two or more daughters either in the Lifetime Merit Register or that have produced at least 1501 b. fat above the standard, and such daughters must have been classified V.H.C. or H.C. The ideal of the association is a 1000-gallon cow with a test of 4 per cent, or more. This should be possible, as according to a survey made recently by the secretary, the average production of all Shorthorn cows that have been under C.O.R. test is above this standard. The survey also showed that the number of Shorthorn cows over 13 years of age under Group Herd Test

was greater than the totaj*. of cows of that age of all the other breeds under test. Group Herd Test has been well supported and several Shorthorn herds have led their districts, as well as being among the tops in the Dominion, averaging up to 4681 b. fat per cow with individual records up to 8271 b. fat. Present Position Philpott, 1937, (16) gave the number of cows in milk and dry in 1908-1909, when the first cow-testing association was formed and the cows tested were just about all Shorthorns, at 536,629. By 1935-36 the number had increased to 1,951,507. Hamilton, 1944, (17) said: — Initially the most important breed of dairy cows in New Zealand was the Shorthorn, but with the adoption of more intensive methods the Jersey breed has progressed at the expense of the lower-testing breeds until today it is estimated that 75 per cent, of all cows in milk are grade Jerseys. - From the above it appears that all the increase in the cow population has been made by the increased number of grade Jerseys, but it should be remembered that most of these grades carry varying amounts of Shorthorn blood. ' With the expansion of the dairy industry the Milking Shorthorn has not increased in numbers to the extent that its supporters would have wished. However, interest has been well maintained by the members of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association, who at present number 470. Local branches of the association have been formed throughout New Zealand, 5 in the North Island and 3 in the South Island. Many of the members have gone in for town supply. Shorthorn milk being deemed very suitable for this purpose; indeed, several of the members have contracts to supply their local hospitals. Shorthorns have been used in all districts to break in difficult farms, where the steers have a definite value, as has the extra milk for feeding pigs and calves, and some of the . top-testing herds have been built up from such beginnings as conditions improved. Wherever Shorthorns are under really good conditions they are among the top herds of their districts. Acknowledgments Acknowledgments are made to Mr. C. Munnings, president of the New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association and secretary of the Canterbury branch, and Mr. A. W. Green, past president and secretary of the Waikato branch, for making available early minute books and catalogues; to the Hocken Library, the Alexander Turnbull Library, Canterbury Agricultural College, Ruakura Animal Research Station, the Shorthorn Society of New Zealand, Messrs. J. C. Wright, R. Peach, N. J. Ward, and W. Law (past presidents of the association), Mr. Graham Shirley, president of the Australian Illawarra Shorthorn Society, Professor Riddet, Dr. H. E. Annett, Messrs. A. Turnbull, Earle Vaile, G. Salway, and John Taylor for the loan of reference books and for data supplied; and to those who furnished photographs.

14. McConnell, Primrose (1913): "The New Zealand Journal of Agriculture,” volume 6, page 32.

15. New Zealand Department of Agriculture (1901): Ninth Annual Report.

sa. “Shorthorn Breeders’ Guide” (1923), page 34.

lb. milk lb. fat No. of days Age Dominion Conceit .. lb. milk lb. fat No. of days Age 16,255 727 365 8 yrs. 336 days Dominion Alsation 11,894 534 343 5 yrs. 336 days Dominion Prunus .. 13,280 533 365 3 yrs. 364 days Dominion Etta 13,766 526 365 3 yrs. 345 days Dominion Althea .. i 1,674 537 349 2 yrs. 360 days Dominion Demure .. 10,401 430 365 1 yr. 200 days

Bulls Cows New Zealand Government Bulls .. 6 Cows 10 Fisher .. 1 4 Wright .. 2 2 Salway .. .. .. 1 3 Dilworth Trust .. ... 2 7 12 26

Bulls In-calf heifers Taylor .. 1 8 Buick .. 2 1 3 9

Season Fat lb. 1928-29 *761 in 365 days in 365 days 1929-30 612 in 275 days in 275 days 1930-31 628 in 312 days in 312 days 1931-32 642 in 365 days In 365 days 1932-33 696 in 365 days in 365 days 1934-35 635 in 345 days in 345 days 1 935-36 615 in 362 days in 362 days 1937-38 628 in 338 days in 338 days 5,217

Dominion Starting at the age of 11 years she gave: —