THE STOCK-BREEDER.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1789, 30 June 1913, Page 10

THE STOCK-BREEDER.

PAST AND FUTURE. WORK PROGRESSING ON SOUND ■ LINES.

, New'Zeaiaiiu is. almost whoHy a pas- ■ k>ral country. More than three-fourths , af tho total exports may be reckoned as ..directly derived from pasture; The question' of' quality of' stock, by means oi .which the pas'turo lands reflect 1 their earning power,, is therefore' of great ini- : portanqo to the financial position of th« ' country. Ever since tho > earliest days of settlement in tho Dominion tho brced- ' ing of purebred stock has figured -lawely in the commercial progress. of the country. At the commcaiceinent, the introduction of pedigree sheep, cattle, and horses was left entirely in the hands of owners " of. largo stations, who brought with them the necessary capital to enable them to . , establish/ develop, and maintain studs, the '"progeny'''from which has been made the foundation of every class of utility, stock ,to, be found on farms throughout the country to-day. .Vast, sums of^ money . were 'spent by .station-holders in import-",-iiifr the original stock, many of the in--1 vestors receiving little pecuniary benefit : for theit outlay; indeed, many of them v failed to rniike a financial success of their enterprise. Many, of these pioneer breed- , .crs'.'hauies are half forgotten, but the result o£ their early endeavours is reflected in tho benefits that have followed. | ■The progeny from tho breeding centres oil tho; big estates have been- distributed • •throughout the'smaller farms in., the ' neighbourhood,, with the result that tin .. standard'.of .'stock in New Zealand' rrill ' compare favourably ,with the best that is to te found elsewhere. This is proved by • , 'thc ,> repeated successes, 01/ locally-bred !. . stock,; aind .their products in outside ,_ '..sliOW>Tin'gs. and markets .wherever competition .is r made. The entries at the .'leading agricultural shows demonstrate . that it is tho largo station-holder who still supplies the country with its 1 best ■ stock/* although signs are not wantine to . prove '.tha.t .larnicrs with' .smaller areas " 'have taken up ths btisine.'s of stud stock- ' breeding With' , A.s closer settlet ment extends, it' will follow that many •of tho Inrger holdings will be subdivided, ' and tlio. problem arise. l ?—how far this : )iiovement '.wilV...n/rect the '.quality , of,. . stock? '■■• ■■ The State's Work. TJu'til quite recently the State had done 'practically'nothing in' the way .of stock- :; breeding, but during, ; last few vears : some efforts have been made to enconrago tliei'breeding of' better . stock ,by thoum-portations-of stud animals—particularly dairy cuttle—and demonstrating;, their value' when properly fed and otherwise 'cured for. This is especially notioeable in the Hcilstein,'Ayrshire, 'Jersey, and Short-lio'rn-herds that, are'kept at the various .experiment farms.- The progeny from par:.'Vnts of: prove<l ability: are -being distri-. buted by. auction,-and as time jfoog on they.'will : ':"leavS"-{K'eff' "impress'r—-With- - *• ,«heep State has^otijeen";. , • so successful. 'nia'inly because the "maDar '. (jers of State farms, having many other,. , .. : uuties :to! perform, aro unable-to Speciol-;: ■ise.- in -'one particular branch' of' work.- ' Rtf other directions, however, the State ', . hiis 1 performed a most useful service, not~ ; < fiblyin-the.efforts that have.been mado' toj the valuo of proper feeding; tvjjd by the inauguration of the cowtestin^ijnorement.." It is a hopeful sigij to note, tho ever-increasing interest. ,t&at is being .'taken by illsec■tidlis Of thef farming' community in their . efforts- to get-rid of indifferent stock, and replaqo. thenr. with/ well-bred animals. , With sheep and- dairy cattle particularly the, .number ot-.-occupicrs of small holdings'.who are establishing purebred studs is ihcreasing evefj; year.- The importations of purebred 'dairy sires and cows , that have bcon prsbircd from tho best herds-in other; lands'tfiave been estraor- . dinary; during the past'tw} years. Jtost of. these have:.oomo to th* e order of prac-' . tical dairymeh. . ' ' \ Owing to the demand the t world over ; for-lcattle of known merit, thV priccs of Vre'edilig stock have as a rule been be- ' fond 'tho. reach of the average ,'dairy- - u'a'n.*s'!pocket. To. overcome this'difficulty rjco-onenitive system of buying'R'a's "been practised in.« few looalities, and ,as far • .as.; can be ascertained, the: .venture is . working satisfactorily," ' ' . '' ,i' V' \ ' Co-operative Breeding." \ ' ;At a.recent meeting of the Jcrssy Breed-' eis'" Association one of tho speakers out-, lined : . a scheme for putting first-clasa' breeding stock in the way of the small '. ' 'Jairyriian* that, has • much to recommend ' it. It was suggested that the association t-hould secure the of a small farm, "aud.theu purchase the best bull available, the 1 service of the bull to be covered by a • fcinain.leo,- and only • cows lof exceptional ' producing/capacity to bs accepted. The main idea'-behind the proposition was that the best cows in the country would have the service of the best bull procurable, ■and, • further, that every calt produced . from.tho mating would have an undeniable milk, record behind it, as it would : be part of., tho scheme of management to keep an exact record of every pound of milk and its percentage of butter-fat produced by the'dam. This scheme received favourable consideration by tho breeders present, but unfortunately nothing fur- : ther has been done in tho matter. ; ' During the present season a very valuable .gift, was made to dairy farmers in iS'ew, Zealand by Messrs. Clement and ' 'Son,-A firm of dairy produce importers, in ? iiiigland,' who presented five high-class :: Ayrshire bulls to suppliers of dairy fac'ories, with certain suggestions regarding :ho disposal of the bulls' services to the ' . oost cow's in the several districts. Beyond • ■ ?iic'ournj,'iiig, stock . breeding in a general •j. vay,',thu A. and P.-Associations havo not .; Jone'a'great deal dir«ctly to advance the biwiness, except in the' way of institut- : ■ ing competitions for judging stock among farmers, and by insisting upon the ".freedom from^"hereditary unsoundness in i hors:s entered for competition. It is held ninny, that 'the .time has arrived when the scale'of judging points should be al- ; tered 'alul. more, consideration given for the proved ability of the animal, particu- ' Jarlv in dairy cattlf, thereby placing util- . ity "ahead of show points. . 'The' great lited is to educate the New Zealand' farmer to have a good apprecia, - tion of a purebred sirr. Happily the prac- ; tice of using a sire because ho was tho " cheapest in the district, and buying an • old broken-down cow at yards for a few ; shillings, and using her ,for breeding be- > cause sho was good for. nothing else, is passing away. With dear land and other considerations, it is only paying the fanner ■ to produce stock that.will realise a decent, price in the open markets. To secure such animals they must be bred from . good parents and fed and reared to the i'-bost'-advantage. Quo result of this improvoirient and better appreciation of breeding of good stock, is tho disappear- I ance of ■opposition to the Stallion Begin- '. tration Bill. Tho farmers aro coming to seo that while it will not pay to rear anything but. a decent animal, it will also be. ,a very risky proposition to roar an animil to maturity unless it comes from parents absolutely free from constitutional and ■ hereditary weakness, With draught horses i it is not now a case of turning a maro and foal into the back country and allow- . ing the foal to hustlo for itself until it is ' a profitable age, but pasture, .feed, and . proper attendance must be provided. Not i ' only in the I breeding of light horsea, but ; in developing our draught stock, has New Zealand had tho good fortune/to have iu . pioneer breeders men who thoroughly un- , derstand their business. Quite recently : . a.new Clydesditfe.Horse Society has been •- formed to foster;-the interests of draught i horse breeding..' This society, is- hoing; 'well supported, and-a gentleman-who was x leading man in- tho Clydesdale ..world has been brought out to look 'after-its affairs. Every distinct breed of sheep, 1 cattle, and horses in Now Zealand has a live association to guard its interests, and ■-"healthy rivalry exists in discovering means of improving' the quality and pro- ' iluctiveness of breeders' respective fancies. Taken altogether, the stock-breeding in-, terissfs' are: being, well -looked .after, and .< ' tow that the necessity for a higher aver- ' ; a <>, grade of general-purpose animal lim realised, a still more rapid improvement may he expected in the future than Vias obtained .in the past.