The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 22, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1867, 22 September 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 22, 1906.

Jx aa agricultural country like New Zealand, whore grazing forms such an important portion of her staple industries, the subject of cattle breeding is, comparatively speaking, deplorably neglected or disregarded in its most important phases While it is true that we have a few farmers who spend both timo and money in tho endeavour to improve some of the many breeds of cattle, and who creditably maintain a high standard of merit at the various agricultural shows for the animals they produce, yet, owing to the apathy of the great bulk of our settlers in this respect, the Cittle are not as a whole of that uniform quality that might reasonably bo expected from a more careful attention to the welßdefined rules of breeding, It might be stated

with truth that, notwithstanding the improvement mado by individual breeders, and tlio o Herts of oar ngri* c.ultuml Hooiotioo to encourage improvement, tho genus bovo of these islands do not as a whole exhibit tho possibilities of evolution which a mere careful attention to its laws could attain, indeed it is hardly a debatable point as to whothor absolute deterioration has not taken place. To account for this wo have only to look at tho indiscriminate crossing and ro crossing that has boon allowed to go on regard loss of its consequences or of tho acknowledged considerations that should guide a brooder in endeavouring to obtain tlio heat possible results. Circumstanced as Now Zealand has

boon, however, this indiscriminate crossing has been to some oxtont excusable ; for, as our lands became rapidly settled upon, it was imperative on tho intending settler to pick his stock from difforont hords or take what ho could get in the saleyards. “Hobson’s choice’’ being his ruler and guide in tho selection of a herd, it cun hardly ho wondorod that consequent deterioration did (to use the language of the medicos) supervene. Tho magnificont and rapidly increasing proportions of our frozen moat trade, and the usually remunerative prices obtainable for a first-class article in

die local markets, should prove an incentive suHiciontly strong to induce our farmers to tako up this subject in a practical way. Favored as thoy are with a climate that is for this purpose second to none on tho fsco of the universe, and with facilities in other respects that are not obtainable by their competitors in England and elsewhere, it should hardly be necessary to urge their attention to a matter that so materially concerns them. Yot anyone with an observant turn cannot help noticing the wide difference betweeu the cattle of the farmer who pays strict attention to breeding, and tho one who selects his stock in a haphazard way and makes no effort to

improve it. So wide indeed is the difference that it becomes a matter of surprise that it should be necessary to mention these points at all. But when one meets with a breeder such as the writer did some years ago, who (though ho possessed some four or five hundred head of cattle) expressed himself totally averse to the introduction of pure blood, for the reason that one or two high priced bulls had not survived—one can hardly claim for our grazing community as a whole the of infallibility. To such as he the Yankee’s “ patent bovine elevator ” would doubtless appear the most practicable, and a general knowledge of its specification may prove useful to others, so nere it is : —“ To raise Jerseys or other fine cattle, cross the common herd uith a locomotive.’ This plan, the inventor claims, “ has been tried with flattering success in Indiana, where a wide awake farmer purchased a measly calf for three dollars—full value—had it run over by a passing train, and put in a claim for forty dollars, which was paid ” ; and he naively recommends the plan as “ a lucrative and simple method of iin* proving common stock.” The plan applied generally would no doubt bo of benefit to the country where railway rings exist; though not entirely what is required, for there would still be something to attend to in improving the animals tbat remain, by a different process which even the Yankees have not supplied us with details of. What this process should be involves a wide range of study, not altogether unmixed with doubt; one in which theory and practice are often at variance, but must still remain inseparable if success is aimed at. Therefore it would be useless attempting to lay down a castiron rule, and volumes of print would be of little service unless the breeaer possesses an intuitive talent to concentrate and reduce to practice the conclusions derivable from theoretical

reasoning. At the present time we have nearly a hundred different families of the bovine tribe, each apparently distinct from the other in size, color, and general conformation ; but all admittedly descended from the extinct and colossal bos urns, whose fossil remains have been discovered in nearly all Europeau countries. This animal in turn has been claimed to be a descendant of the animals taken into the Ark by Noah. Whether this is the correct account of the domestication of the species or not does not affect our present purpose. There is ample proof of the antiquity of the species, but it is only in relation to their size and character that we need here consider them, to enable us to see what changes time has wrought, and to assist us in anticipating what changes time can develop under proper conditions. Regarded in this light the bo3 urus affords a striking illustration. That he was an animal of huge dimensions, far larger than any of his species to be found in the present day, his fossil remains clearly show; but we are indebted to ancient legends for the information that he “ existed in a wild state, and was of terrible ferocity.” From this it would appear at first sight that centuries of domestication has had the effect of reducing the size of the species. That it has been reduced there can be little doubt; but it is clear that to other conditions, and to a variety of them too, may be traced the cause of some, at least, of the reduction that has taken place. To the researches of Darwin, Nilsson, Rutmeyer, and others we are indebted for a large amount of useful information regarding the development of the bovine genus, but it would servo no useful purpose here to introduce tho question of its origin; though it would be interesting to know more than the mere fact recorded in Biblical history, that Pharaoh presented Sheep and Cattle to Abraham. [ This subject will be continued in Monday’s issue.]