REGISTERED PEDIGREE COWS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1297, 28 November 1911, Page 10

REGISTERED PEDIGREE COWS.

"TESTING TUB ANXCAI/rEODUCTION. ..; ' ' ■ . ■■■;;. •One of tho.most interesting- arlirlw on dairying mailers which ' has appeared 'iii 'Hie Agricultural Department's journal .'is tt) be found in'(ho latest issue and'emriej from tho n'en of Mr. \V. M. Singleton of tho iUniryipg- 'Ilivinion. Tho writer says (hat olio of tho-grratesl accomplishments of modern times is tho advancement made iu- the productive,.character (if dairy sfnckv as/evidence in the ..coir's which-are tho world's' greatest prbdiK-er.s of milk.. and .butter-fat... .'\yjie.thflr ■ this success of the breedor -has been obtained by means of providing suitable environment' for' the cow awl her ancestry,, or whether advantage has ,been taken : of cpttain imitations, which have appeared suggested, by the Mendelimi tlieory,. matters not. Certain f ami lies, possessing special dairy qualities'have- been built up by taking advantage of. the prepotency of .an animal possessing- such . qualities inn uiarked degree and capable of ■trnnsrailling them to its offspring, tit is.now generally known that among all. tho dairy breeds certain families stand out as possessing the : best qualities of the breed in a special degree. . \. Tlio-i; dairy catHo known as "piirebreds" arc, as a cls-ss, generally ■ considered to po.-sess certain fairly ivollfixed and desirable qualities, which the keeping of the breed in a pure state, tends, when accompanied by judicious selection, to propagate and strengthen'. The power of transmitting these qualities is thereby intensified, and the breed made inoro valuable, so-long.as these qualities transmitted have a! nionc/arywaliia. - -As ■• factory dairying extends,-'as latfdvaliifs increase,' and , , as niore intensive dairying becomesiiecessary. the monetary value-of the dninVcow has 'relegated the. aesthic consideration to tho background, nnd-iioiv "handsome is as handsome does,", and' the con- prized most highly- , is the-one that.'Wlivers - flics goods,'-'-and ha.? fins'propensity ,so in her through,' inheritance from a lojlg line.'of ancestors-of tho one type that', according, to the law of chance, slic' , is likely-to.transmit the same- dcsirnblr. qualities to her-offsprin?. And while (his quality is prized so highly in the diirt tow;, even from the view-point "of offsnnn?..n!one, it must, bo remembered that :ho cow.'s offspring will, each year, nuui)(T usually not more-than one,, whereas the,male. mny ( be parent of many times tins number. Howmuch more'important is; it, - fhe.retW.- that the dairnnan should bo' positive (lint the head of'his dairy -herd has by inheritance received .Uiose.dniry quciities which- the herdowners ■to -fix in- his Herd! Ihte-e dairy gunlihVs. are' jpir -■ vorr much' abbrenaW, -ind m.iv 1,. snmnieil «p as the ability to. eH offspring which, t females, mil produce a lar?e- quanitv pt milk and butter-rat, economically. ..At one period of.-th'e devetonine'nt ot our dairy herds, tin- uumbfrs of breeders who -inieht- excel according t"'th'o then sfiindard? was (riore or less restricts ed to. thoso who had ;a..Special endowment or uatural antitiiae;along that-line. -In these, later nays,-..when, the - -productive, capacity of the dajry ' c'o.w is. piinsi'dered pf premier■ im portaiicc'to 'sneeessfill- dairv: ing, the field. 'and "a. lover ot , dqiry. animals, who-is gifted.-with fair judgment aiid a' kindly' natuvp,and. infinite, -patieite'e,."may, by the scales .ftnd.^fafrjoit' , ,f<?' prayide him' with exact- data, inako'a success . pf 'dsii-.r,-farming.i Tliis door has .been, opened to the greater.number very -lar»Aly. thrdUßli wstinj and recording of tho yields "oi I purebred cows, and by the records of purebred bull.", as seen in thn nunibor of their daiightdrs which lure distinguished themselvts in" this ' record of yields ■or performance,' By ■ consiiHir.v thjs record for purebred cows, the beRittner <hf (he ol(lor dairy c'olintries ean for himself-select dairy stock from those , families"oT which tho females are henvr milk and butter-fat producers, The prospective dairyman can Ascertain y/h.ethcr (he bulls of any particular family -arc traiiswiltiiis! enltangtd. , milki(inq'uhlities'to their plVspving, 'for it is only through the good: records of his, daughters that ii- bull's name is admitted to •ho.-registry. -With such infu'nn.ition at his disposal even (be uninitiated of tinvarious breeders of dairy stock admit only purebred males and fcm.-ilcs to their liocord of Pcrformauco and Advanced Registry, the security which these records offe.r the purchaser is certainly valuable, EECORDS OF PKUFOBJtAXCE OK ADVANCED EEGISTKY. Opcial records were not instituted until' somo considerable time after the herd-books were established, .h thn numbers of purebred dairy stock itcreased and competition became keener, tho records of pnrforinniice camo to the" tors,, and control of these records was. taken up by the breeders' associations lor each breed. It then became' quite , fashionable for breeders with long purses' to make'a hobby of rearing recordbreaking dairy cows and heifers, and the number of records which have be?u'made and broken is surprising. The development in the dairy stock necessary to keep paco with this record-breaking line of work has been equally amazing; but, while those txtremely* high records are interesting as showing what thei-'possi-' bilities of son/e dairy cows are, they are' not so necessary as showing what tho possibilities of .some dairy ce\rs are, they lire not necessary from "the viewpoint of the practical dairyman' or " practical breeder. .'"*'" I'm- somo time ■ the'short tests Veru all that were demanded'. Official oue-day,-two-day, seven-day, or thirtv-day ' tests were considered quite, sufficient' 'to indicate tho productive capacity of tho purebred dairy cow; and many breeder; affirm thiit in the interests of the dairy cow's' constitution she should' iiei bo licpt .'upto record-breaking" pitch tSroughout ah' entire lactation period.. 'While many agree with..this line of. argument, thejare not. satisfied to accept the' record of •a sove(i-day test a≤ a true, indication of a cow's producing-capacity for a lactation period. Many cows may milk exceptionally well for a time, but may not .be possessors of that' ail-important quality known as "persistency." The tendency iimon.git practical dairymen who .are. breeding for yearly returns, as well as with the object'of, soiling stud stock, seems to bo njore along the, line of-dis-c-arding the shortrprieed official tests and extending tho tests'to take into, consideration tho cow's full milking-capacity. This, class of testing is likely tq popularise itself, for, while the'dairy cows are not expected to break records, they are under this system expected to do fairly good n-ork throughout the whole milking-period, and the figures indicating the cow's production in this manner are much more intelligible to the average dairyman, and at the same, time ■(!re a more faithful indication to the dairyman (if the cow.'s comparative worth. The breeders of Uolslein-Fricsian cattle claim the, credit of being the pioneers' in connection with the taking of advanced registry official records, while the breeders of the Guernsey'claim to be''the first to adopt semi-official records for tho whole lactation period. The various associations of breeders have accepted this' style , of record, while, at the same time many continue the'bllicial"record for the short period. SEMI-OFFICIAL RECOKD.S. Tu the niaking of the sbort-poriod official records, the supervisor or testing olliwr (who is usually an appointee of an experimental station or an -Agricultual Department) rem.ii'.is at the farm during the time of such tost. , He weighs and'.-aniples for testing each and every milking, and the yield for the pn-iod is figured accordingly. "\Vhile_. this "is necessary for short tests, it is uot. fo necessary for the test of the whole period. Tn this semi-official test for the full lactation period the owner is required to weigh, or cause, to be weighed, .the milk of the coir for each and every fuilking, und to keep a record of the same! A rtCOrd of these weights must be supplied each month, and at the end of the lactation period tho yearly record luustbe t'prwnrded by tho owners, and must be accompanied by on affidavit sworn before a• Jlis'tico of tho Peace or' >otary Public declaring the weight; to bo acciivite. Tbe (lovejnnleut officer in cbargn-'o( tho testing is' expected to viiit"the. farm onco a month for about two days.. He-is to weigh the milk during lijs visit and,compare it with previous and tiike samples for testing for Tlie produc-

tioii of fat for the mouth is figured by faking the-wight of. milk, for tho month as'found by thn t'ortiiyrs''uiurfiguring this ■at flip- test found' by tljn Government officer. Tlir- lactation'.period must not cxtimd over. 3s.') days,- anil• rach cow must drop-ir within.'say, tifteen month's from Ihcliiilf' her. test, commenced. ' ■Coves iiro• 'vlni-sd its "two-year-olds." I ''/hrer-yciir-old.s" "foiir-year-o'i'l.s" iiiul "niiiturc cows. ,, Unless an auiuial producos up to a coHniu minimum of milk anil butter-fat slated qs the slandard for her dais in Iho semi-official tost, she. is lifll admitted to the'record of merit. .These standards vary -with different, breeds,' hut' arc 'iisunlly. within the following lirnit:;:— '.',.- . ■'.• . . . • • Mnsimum. Minimum. '■ '.. ■ Lbs. Lbs. Us. Lbs. . ■ ■ . Milk. .-Fat.-..Milk. l"at. Two-yea r-o!ds \ v>soo i.is 5,500 108 •Thrcft-year-olds 8,.')00 '■• 23fl ' 6,-">00 ■ 231, Four-year-olds 9,. r >ofl 3:3 7,-500 270 Mature cows 10,500 3.57 '. 8,500 M It is.suggested that the time is opportune iu j< ew Zealand irhen semi-official testing might be commenced with profit to. tho dairy .communities of this .country and to the breeders of purebred dairy stock. Dairymen about to purchase purebred bulls .will pay more for those descended fromnnerslry of. known merit. The extra price, will more than repay the cost of (aking, the. weight of milk.daily. A semi-official record of'a cow for one year may bs legitimately quoted by (he breeders when telling any progeny of this cow; and the one season's testing may influence very materially the price of .some seven or eight, tons and daughters .not to mention the- influence on animals who:-e relationship is,farther removed. To the dairymen of our Dominion who are endeavouring, to-improve their herds, such records . would be invaluable. At present many, dniryfarmers dosiro to get. purebred .sire? from known good milking strains, but. while ilmd.v purebred ' sires are offering, little is known of (heir capacity to.got. good milk-pvoiiHcing progeny. For supplying this knowledge, semi-official records of tho bull's dam and granddanis are necessary, and their absence, constitutes'the "missing link" in Xew Zealand breeding of high-producing dairy stock. The testing of the-.Yield-production.of tho individual cows which constitute our ordinary crossbred herds is extending, and is-creating a demand for purebred sires; ]>ii t to an equal, extent thjs ' herd-testing is creating a demand, for the niilk. aiid butter-fat records of the sires of such dam and granddams. It is only ".by tho .use of sires'whose quality is assured,])} - s.riph recoi'ds that' the most intelligent improvement can be made- in qi|r ' dairy herds. TI(C time is , not far. distant when our most' progressive dairymen 'will, ' when p'fli'chasing a', head Tor' their dairy herd, demand not only a pedigree, but record.* sdeh as has been described above.