STOCK PROBLEMS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 86, 6 January 1919, Page 8

STOCK PROBLEMS

? ENGLAND'S POSITION, AMERICANS A COMPETITOR ' J An article, chiefly of importance to ■ i English 11 - breeders, but also of interest to j New,'Zealanders, appears in (lie "Live 'Stock Journal":— "The English judges back from Palermo Show, the national exhibition of Argentina, are agreed that tlio _ Short- . horn is the British breed which is maki ing. most .progress in that country, and as yet is the breed \vhich is looked upon, generally, as the most valuable in the '.upbuilding of native beof breeds and the raising of utility commercial 'stocks. /I'lie .: Hereford is not making the. progress it deserves. The reason is obvious. The .Council of the British Hereford Herd Book Society has not been, and. still is, ■ insufficiently alert to the possibilities of ' their own breed out there. The Aber- ■ deen Angus is developing slowly, surely, ■ but on right lines. The Shire horse has a few ardent lovers in Argentina, but Percheron interests are more active and pushed further, and with a. more commercial spirit than are those of the Shire. The hand of Chicago is to be seen in the Perchcron's progress in South America rather, than any interest being noticeable'as at work'from the Percliie district \ of Prance itself. The Hackney is standing still; tho Yorkshire coach - horse ■ marks time,.but there is a slight revival in polo pony breeding on the lines laid down by our National Pony Society. "The Romney and the Lincoln share ' favouritism among Longwool sheep and i make really big money,' while among the,, . Down breeds tho Hampshire, Oxford, and Shropshire are pre-eminent. But'. the Down breeds are not going ahead as they ouglit to do. Here again the sleep of 'self-satisfaction daily indulged in by; the English societies is the cause of their interests in Argentine being neglected. 'Tho chief, reason why the Lincolns and' the Komneys are .going ahead, over all-tie rest at the moment, is that our English exporters can make more money over them than they can upon the Down breeds. : And why? Because the exporters are j acting as missionaries as well. as traders. They are.boosting the breeds which, render them goodly monetary returns':for their_ financial investments and adventures.' They preach the gospel that thvre is nothing like the fleece of the Lincoln and the Romney, and that tho .. cass : of those breeds is. at the moment ' meeting the call of the world. l'he war has caused the. latter argument to bo a sound one, but it will not always lie a truo line for breeders of sheep to follow. ' The reaction after the war will t;--ko .sheep raising right, back to its old situa- - lion, and the Down breeds will be want- • ed as well as the larger: bodied bref ds, ; - and surely this is the time for tho sheep breeding societies of Britain to consider . ways and means for recoiistriicting-their trade channels and meeting the crlls . which must come to them from 1 Argentina and beyond, and also from Austra-1 . 'losfn. -■ ! : "We are tired 'qf telling liow the Americans are preparing. We would ask j what- are the American Professors and 'Deaiis' of Agriculture -and Animal Husbandry now in Britain, doins? They are ' probing and finding cut what the conditions of British agriculture will be after ;the end of mii". They are preparing I to be;ready, for tho markets of 1920, be | •' they what they may—meat, wheat, live stock, fats, oils, and stock feeding staffs. J What is British agriculture and what is the British- live stock irdnstry doing to meet the world's.call for all this trade? The breed societies, can play their part, but for the most part tliey simply refuse to listen to our not unreasonable cails tot them to awake to their responsibilities, a;,theme we have hammered at, for two . years, and one which finds plenty of support among individual members of our , etockbreeding industry, who are immediately overwhelmed by the 'do-nothings' when a step,in the direction of advancement'. is. asked for. "America's interests in .the meat iu- ] idustry;,th'e fax-reaching grip of Chicago's . nieat packers upon Smithfield, upon the freezcries, aftd tlie estancias of Argentina; America's supposed inability to send us. feeding stuffs for the maintenance of ■ < our own cattle, .sheep and pigs; Aiue-rica's-interest;in our ;a"ricultural situa- -. .tion in- do lhey"'all point to? "Let our.agricultural politicians—if we : lave any worth their et It— considor these and" other allied ' Let our •breed societies, also, ask themselves what are we doing to be ready to meet the hurly-burly of clashing national inter- ' ests which has yet to come? Two years ago America said she had no further need to come to England for the pur■poses of replenishing her Shorthorns. ' iLasfc year 6he declared tlmt she had made the Hereford the most perfect beof animal in the world; she had filled in the htndquarter weaknesses of the Britishibred Hereford. -She igain etatcd that ■ she had no need to cjme to England : for any more foundation stock. This year their Berkshire pig breeders 'havo boasted that they ran put scores of pounds, of extra meat cn the carcasses of. this British pig one cross of it ; upon their own stock of the sambTireed:,, 'It is safej therefore, to.sav that at tho! sacrifice; of - breed character they will build uplhe-BerkShiro la the dimensions of a Norwegian'pony, end there will then . be no need-to return to Britain for any more replenishing istock. All these 'boosts'—and tlieir Priesims beat ours in sale prices, while their,, milking Shorthorns have been returning extraordinary yields, and so on—all point to one end: the American wishes to he a real live . competitor with us in tho world's market for purebred stock. True, (lie tried one consignment of Shorthorns to Argentina, but tho sale prices he realised there were not such as to cause the venture to be repeated. After all the claims that have, and may yet, be made as to the value of American-bred stock—and there is-no. desire to'minimise these values' will be best'for breeders in ■ this, country and .abroad, as well as in U.S.A., to recognise that while the fo'nndation blood . in. American herds .was ' originally drawn from our British breeds, yet' the work 'of, maintaining and • replenishing this blood from its-fountain, : head lias been so neglocted by the American breeder during the -past - twenty years that the original types have, been greatly deteriorated, and. certainly their prepotency; is well nigh ■ spent. We believe that American stockmen : will not he .liold, their pwu 'homo. markets,mudli'less develtp.an export trade, unless they revert to British blood for the quickening ;{and' reviving -of their herds. .This is no secret among lending experts in- America, who kh6w the trade from the brceder's'point of viowj arm » a point it out in no ,carpii)g spirit, for wo firmly. believe that our mutual interests are bound up in a revival of cattle breeding in U.S.A. The American' stockowner has done good work with, the materials possessed, bill: - we, believe ; he,would have done muclrbetter had he maintained a steady ,inflow of fresh blood from this country. In his neglect other countries saw their opportunity, and they have .'captured tho export trade so far as meat is. concerned., "For all concerned it i 3 wise to recognise the limitations as well as .'the possibilities of expansion in any given direction ;".we have .all some advantages, none* have "all the advantages. In the British Islands there has been committed to lis in a special degree the conserving and fostering of many pure, breeds of horses, cattle, sheep and pigs for the improvement. of tho world's live stock, and so we say to our breed societies,

make the most of this inheritance, that it may bo retained by us, not only by breeding tho best, but by letting the world know the value of tho stock and where it can be obtained." , [, •