CATTLE BREEDING

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 175, 11 August 1937, Page 15

CATTLE BREEDING

Owjn .Co.rrfesr&ifiont.)

Are Dairy Quaiities Being Oyerstressed ENGLISH TENDENCY

(From Our

LONDON, July 14. - Dairy Shorthorns wfiTe t'ar and sfway the most nunierous breed of cattlA tej jcsentcd at the Royal Show,> held at V:*olverhampton-, which w&3 Visitcd by the pai'ty ef Netv Zealand fafipers loui'ing -Britain. The numSfef .of Dairy 8Uorthoriis entered was 194. fferseyt c&me nfext with- 130, British Eriestans third, with 128, anfl Red Polls i'Ourth, with lll. A.yrshires outmimbered tlie Gnernseys, and also the Lincolnshire Jieds, South Devoxis, Boxtel'*, Kerrles) a.nd Blue Albions. Ihe high average merit difeplayed iti tho v&riuus beef breeds was strikingi The SliOrtliorns aild Abci'deen AngUS pcl'haps had the highest standard for wide r: a'scs and great quartors, with perhaps a preferChco in the Shorthorn for gi'owth and ilrmness of llnes, while the prclei'eHcd lay with the Angus fot quality. Other brepds "had* also claimS to these virtues in a high degreo. The big Hereiord has levelled -con» siderably. In rdcent years the quarters which uscd to be a. weak pomt „of the breed, have been greatly improvod> Tho Sussex also has aetpiired! a levelness of flesh and qilality that is oilly rivallcd by tho Angus, though ,thcy do not possess the width of xOasts. Altliough some of tho Shorthorn classes were small they gcnoi'ally .pro- • vided leaders of goOd breed merit with plenty of deep substance. There was a grand array of yearling bulls,5 while two-year-old heifers made ' anuther strong display — tho old patohinesn 'over tiie rump and un'evcnness of ilesh ha4 idmost disappeared. . * . Tho Timcs oOrrespOndentj cbmmenting oa tlie cattlo soction, suggfeftied that the present day praelice oi Bngi lish brbeders was to pay more. .attem , tion to dairy quaiities than to, (laRyi ing quaiities. ; ■. ' ' ln recent years tho only tiiipg that i has mattered is the milk. cheque. Tiiere has semed to be no monoy ih ' rearing young cattle for tlie beef market) and it is quito undorstandablo that proference haS been given to the pui'ely dairy type of cOW, ' ' he said. "But this has involved the sacriiice of quaiities which in the past made tho yhorthom .otie of the most economical breqds for the ordinary farmer. To» day we see beef prices at a higher lovel than for several years, and all too few gooii beef cattlo coming ou. to the markets. The outcast firom the modern • dairy herd, whether a.maiden. heii'er or . a fat eow, does: n6t conipare' at all t'uvourably with the bcaSt brod witll ari eyo to .beef quaiities as woll as milk production.

"The consequence of .poor returns from the beef market is now evident ;n the indifferent quality of English production in many districts. TherO arc now only two or threo good herds of Scottish Shorthorns in England, aiid there are some first-class hcrds of Aberdeea-Angus, Hferefords, and ' Dovons, . but their infiuence on the general run of cattle in the country is \ery limited. Scotland has retamed more faith, in beef production, The aim there has been to produce t.he bfeot, and Aberdeerishire has certainly sncceeded in capturing the high price trade for the finOst fresh besf . '/A prominent Argentine breeder said at the show that he can now tinly iind SUorthpril bulls suitable . for export ili Scotland, whereas his father and grandi&ther used to buy bulls in England, In kis 'opinion only a few .of the leading Skorthorns at the Royal Show, which iiicluded the two Calrossie bulls which lmd come south from Captaiif John M cGillivray 's herd, reached the standard . thqt the Argentine- now requires. Argehtine breeder§ know as _ a result oi close study the type of animal that meets the' d'emand ih England' for beef, They are specialists in this business; and such an opinion should make breeders (Consider Vory carefull.; whether - the trend ' towards milk pr o-1 duction has not gone far onough." 'i ■ ^ ; :