FARMING AND COMMERCIAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1321, 27 December 1911, Page 8

FARMING AND COMMERCIAL.

THE DAIRY COW. UTILITY AND CONSTITUTION. ' It is vathc-r. ii'iiKir!;al)lW vliut a number of points art siiid- to bo imlicalivp ot niilkiiiL'.qualities in dairy i-siirs, iiiicl.it is curious to nole the .ilift'orbnt traits which aro given by different observers and owners of cow?. .Some ol those ary ruthr-r minute, or not very likely (it iiM inuntion to carry much conviction; Imr wlien wo rcinonibor how much impevtanefc h-is been nfiribule:! '■ to the escutcheon llieoiy, wrlninly an appitontl.v remote cliflroctoristic, it.niay well be, ■ perhapi, that all Ihu varied .features that have iiKii pul foT\y,ird carry in them . some dairy possibilities. - . Jt is , certainly a difficult-niatter to doj, , - niiftisa on, says tv writer disciiii-ing-this iwint, because lit is not uncommon''..to tinil'good milking cows ol'.aii'Hgly -sbapo, .and williont many of these points, cr even showiiig thf! antithesis of some : of them, such as thick- hindquarters and thick horns, or. large, u^ly-teats.. Bnt it is, at any rate, interesting to record the -vieiys/'of'practical dairymen aJid others-071 th'ei'e 1 mattei'i. At- tho.same time, it is admitted that the cow which produces most at-thc sniall.est msl: <tcos- jibssois what are. .called (laky characteristics of form. ■ This was, in fact, brought out seientih'eally by Professor Ilaccker in a- way which seems to admit of no' doubt of the value -of cxtfcrnul l'ea(ure> in this respect. ,11c wanted to find out -the cc.it of the production of each pound of milk, and tlifl food consumed was weighed ami priced, and the milk' weighed and tested. Variety there .certainly was, and some Jerseys made, dear butler and sonw Shorthorns cheap, some cows costing in-thjs way iiO ner cent more than others, this point ulone" beinjr' . cousitlcrad.' The yerdiet, however, was that the cconpmieal cows had tho true dairy appcarniieo (weilgesliaped). while tho cosily, ones-had the 'fccj build and appearance. " ;. ■ Tiiis is very satisfactory as reconciling' .1 hixvry.'with practice, but in putting, forward dairy characteristics tho mistake is soiiictiiiifs. made of overdoing the wedjreshnpe, find thus Tunning the risk ot' waut of constitution: , -, It is apt to lie forgolbm' what a great strain on tho system continued deop milking implies, and how essential if. is to have a frame sirrinjj enough to stand thi.-;. This was well ex-pre.-sse'd a few years ago by a Canadian export in a lecture to farmers r.t Otfaw.i. lie rcmnvkud: -"Tf there is any function in lh# whole animal life that is'roore difficult (him another, it is tho pniduciiifr -of milk, and therefore you should, select a cow with a goud strong eonslilution. Wo judge constitiiti'jii by ilie heart, and we want.rc-Jiu up and down and through. Wo do not want a deep, narrow cow, or a.shallow, broad cow. . She must have lots of. room fnr the heart, and Kings, for theso are the 'organs upon which the auimal must depend, for. its life." .lioodiJerseys show these points, so they cannot Jje su.id to iiidicate kr.ci rather than milk, -nor to lay breeders open to tho charge of altering" the wseutial dairy characteristics'of tho breed,' as seems tu have been the case where Ayrshire breedera have endeavoured' td secure a moro blocky outline in Iheir coiv's.' Such an apparently small; point as wide noslrils, which some commend, in dairy catfie, is thus seen; to bo of considerable, indirect significance,, for it implies large lungs. Another, well-lcnown. writer, rciiiarkinj on the .indications or a jqund constitution, say:.- that this is implied by large lungs' and -a broad and prominent chest, α-scmeirliat slow respiration, and a Rr*iit inclination to drink", the Jattfi- being naturally, .encouraged by an abundant milk secretion. -The importance of quality and not ;more size, in the udder, with very lino skin'and woolly hair, is, perhaps'.'now recognised, and indeed .it .tan hardly bo too smi'H'iiii a dry coiv,'. according to expert opinion. .It may seeni a small point to sorno'to-insist on. ?riua : r6ly-p!ace(! teats, well np'art, but this implies that the milk vessels arc of good size, and not-crowded together. ..... Constitution may .again, be reflected to some extent in colour, but this seems doubtful. A washy, somewhat violent contrast of colour in- the extremities inhories is soid to indicate some lack of yitul iitrengtii, a white hoof, for instance, iinplyint; a lack of iron; but such colour contrasts are probably less common in cow;. White cows nru'certainly rare and unpopular, not, perhaps,-bscause they aro delicate, as they .-ire otteu supposed to be, though without real ground, it is. said, but because they are not especially good milkers, and it seems to ho u decidedly unfortunate colour, if not blended;* ' In the latter case there siciiis no' doubt at nil that it is a desirable colour, as tho descendants of tho old Dutch cows, sometimes met with, in .tho-iloiiVe counties, boar witness, among them being some of tho best milkers known, and it is averred thai-a former Kin hardly go wrong :in buying one, as they aro"' usually very profitable. Brindled cows, too, are useful, ami asm generally to be remote descendants of tho Brittany breed, which with formerly sometimes 'imported. Itcd and white, too, is'ii good colour. Ko:;n, again, both strawberry and red, are associated with good milking powers in any dairy cows of Short horn type, and tho value of yellow in certain parts of the body is an accented fad.

BEWG AND CJOTEG,

. ARMY HORSES. I'OSITION OF AI'STRAMA AM) SEW ■ ■. -ZEALAND. ■' An authority on all mutters pertaining to the liorst' trade in Australia and bit\veen the Cmnmonweiilth ii'ml India (Mr. A, ,1. .Moitmi, of Syiliiey) li-js given thr> ■ "i'astoraji'ts' licvieiv" an outline of his s'l'hi'lni! for enabling Australia and New 'Zealand to contribute to the Wav Othoe j rft'iuirements us fur a-> horses-are con-1 corned. Mr. Moitoli say^:—"As one wlio, is considerably- interesti'd ir. the horse-! bi'e'ediiig iudustry in this country, anil (tlsu having • purchased remounU largely for India, Japan, and Africa,' could I olTer a , , few suggestions apropos of the ■sliortugn of the war-horse in Great liri-I tiling T'htsfo is u goad supply of tip-tcp •horses of all descriptions.ii> the Auntralian i .States, principally Queensland;• »w South-Wales, and-Victoria, and very fine animals can be obtained ii. , .New Zealand. .The tyiicstiou arises hs to how the Home Government' is to deal with them. To my mind, the only way i;- to establish depots in each of the States nnnicdi say two in Queensland,- two iu New fc'outn Wales, one in Victoria, and ene in New, Zealand (if required). Good, tracts of borso country can be secured, and I should say -depots of an arev.i ) of 10.000 acres each would be ample to keep up a Rood supply of horses.' At each depot there .should be a superintendent and two or three competent-buyers, who could insped' animals at the different railway ■stations on the lines'in proximity to the depot; days of inspection'could be dulv advertised", and horses'from the surroun'li:i» districts -would be brought in. ihe buyers could al.-o attend all large sales of "horses. It would he absolutely neces-s-iry to deal 'for horses- which we call 'under ace," that is.-two, three; and four 'years old. This class can be had at a very reasonable rate, and should be kept at the depot till of a . suitable ase .to ship. "With reforence to price, the' lollowin" are 'the -ruling' rates.iit present:— Gunners, wheelers. .t:» to £i 0; snnn<-rs, l'eader- '.£25 to ,S!.i;ride and drive. £it to .EM; cavalry horse-s, -El 3 to .tin. These price* are for horses ot the nsht usnj | for vounger. aniiiiaLs about .65 less 'tor ■cacir-vear would be a fair t«timati>. Iho ffunner is really the hardest class of horse to purchase at present in Australia.' Not (bat they cannot be o.lamed, •but because closer'sottlement and the subdivision of large estates into farming '■areas lias .made the draught. hqi>e ot "re-it value; it is no uncommon thin? tor 'a mob of young farm horse; to now.cverace at auction .W0 or' mere, lo obtaiil iirst-rlass gunners the military authontiVs inns! be prepared to jrive up to .t3ojtlnt U a little more than tin-, odin.i y fanner'is prepared to give for draught P "l- ; or Ci the lighter class or riding ho-'so competition would only come Hen buvws such as the -Dut-rh If lands. •Manila/and parts of South Alri.-a. and. these buyers being only spasmodic, the British Government could, get an unlimited supplv of tho riding class with vei.v little , coSiEelition. Transport arrangements should bo easily arranged: B tocV boats of modern design should land horses in En?land in forty days- ensi y,_ at n cost pe:o head, including; «ve.rythina, ot not more, tiran JEIS." The pressnt rato from Australia to India is X,, and about Xi estca covers everything clfc—leea, altentioti, iiishrance, 'etc. .. On tliose .li-rures the-sum named, £):>; shoiild be aliiplft to raver the cost per bead to -EflsflamL Uith i-eferenco to 'land coit of-the dcpotS,_i should say' that a good area ol land- m North Queensland in clow proximity, to a oVep'jwator harbour coald h>e. obtflinod -at £* ifls. per acre, arid in the south ot Queensland £3 10s. per acre; if dealing with the Queensland Government, a .suitable area might be obtained on , a leasehold basis. In. New. South. Vales an area of suitable Government laud . oou d not bo obtained; conveniently if would be necessary to biiyjd about' .£3 10.5. E« r acre, either iifth'c norllf.or south portions of the, State. In Victoria a: suitable area could not -bn obtained under Si per acre. In all, this would ni'paji. the purchase in Australia of live depots of 50,000 acres at an average of about, <£3 7s. Gd. The amount spent in land, say. .£189,000, might' seem at first sight a lot of money to invest; but.one must renicm- I bcr that laud in' Australia is'on the up grade, and it is only reasonable lo think that these lands would in ten years increase iu viiluo to a considerable extent, and become, a good asset; probably they would l>o worth! Xi pci , acre. I estimato that the depot's would well kef'p yearly from 5000 to .6009' horses. Working on a fi per cent, basis', th« cost of kc-cpin'g a« horrf for u. year-would work out at ,tl IBs., to which must be added the upkeep of the differmtt depots,-another M.te. psr head, in all, sbmewherc about £',V per head psr. year. We noW.come to the actual highest, cost of a horse landed in England—gunner wheelers, at most, 0t53; gunner leaders, at most, MS: ride ami drive horses,- at rc'ost, iliS; cavalry horses, at rtiost, <!M3. ■'"To keep up the supply of military horses I would never suegest (he- establishmc'nt of breeding station? in Australia.: To my'mind , they would- absolutely fail., as one never knoir.s what class of stock you are going to get from any stallion- when breeding, lor military pur- ' po.-*?. The only' Way f.D keep :i sunnl.v' in hand is to buy all the right sorts from tho ages , of two to five years direct from brooders or in-the open market,, and keep them at the depots till such-time as, they are.tit to solid, either-in age'-or condition; to hcodrjuarters. By this means the authorities will always have a good supply of high-class; horses ready to =hip to' any' part of the . world where needed; In conclusion. I would like'to' add that in Australia there is always a large'number of : what one would call low-condition, horse's, caused through drought in certain portions of the continent. If the Indian .or other buyer happens, to be in the . market at the time when a certain portion- of the' oountry is- suffering- from' ilior'tago of the horses in thnt locality of tho -right age are' lost for shipping purposes simply,'on account of their, poor condition. By the establishment of buying depots all" these good but poor-condi-tioned horses could he bought' up and moved to the riiore prosperous, parts of the country: whero' they would thrive' and eventually'fi.iid their way into (he rajiks."