THE JERSEY COW

Otaki Mail, 5 December 1923, Page 3

THE JERSEY COW

LEVIN BREEDERS' CLUB DEMONSTRATION. The Levin Jersey Breeders' Club held its first demonstration on Saturdav at the farm of Mr R. L. Horn, Kukii. The demonstration was given by Mr |C. E. Robertson, of Wellington, Messrs Wright, Stephenson and Co.'s pedigree stock expert. There was a large attendance and the beautiful weather combined with the hospitable welcome Air Horn accorded bis guests made the. afternoon of pleasure as well as profit. Afternoon tea, served in the shade of a picturesque patch of iHitivo bits'), was much enjoyed.. Prior to Robertson's arrival by * car fr-un Wellington a, tour of inspection of Mi- Horn's litre herd of pedigree Jerseys interested the guests. Altogether the Club had cause for much gratification as to its firs: field da v. which was votN by "11 a pronounced, success. I hi opening Ids address Mr Robert- : son said that much was heard of the perfect cow, but so ia.r no such thing- existed. Breeders in conceit-j trating on the improvement of one point lost in another. What was wanted was the economical cow. Dairying, which Was now a highly j specialised industry, demanded a cow-! with plenty of size and middle, clean cut in general appearance and "wsdgy" in shape. Breeders knew that 2S points were awarded by judges for the milk vessel and therefore many concentrated upon it. In his opinion the head was the main point in Hie animal—the business end —and there was a great deal to study in ft. A clean cut head was. a sign of intelligence, a thitig of great importance. This might ■-■'cm far fetch- I ed to some, but it should be remembered that they wanted a sow which would respond! to good care and treatment. Width between the eyes and length from the eye to the ten oJ the noil meant a good brain. I'hn brain controlled the nervous system and the nervous system was Particularly developed throughout the dairy ■ n---. They must look in the head for who l was' called "dairy temperament " This was indicated it! many ways. One was in a full, bright prominent eye. Then there was a great deal in the general appearance of » cow. Take a well-treated herd in a paddock. When one approached, some of the animals would have their heads tip. on the filer I but not frightened, and would observe everything that went on. Other-; would take no notice Of anything- and others again would be scared. 'The first sort was the one which displayed the dairy tempern- : merit. There should be plenty of length between the'eye and the nose : ; they did not want n square head. ■ Neatness could and had been overdone. Too much attention lied bt.-ee fjven to fancy points. In the pa-! Ayrshire breeders had gone in for neat made cows with the result that the breed's dairying reputation hid boon destroyed. Tin re was a tendency among n certain school of Jer-, sfiy 'breeders to do the same thing. | The Avrshire breeders among other J things had bred for what they called 2 fineness of bone and had starved their calves to get it. Fine bono really meant hard bone, starved calf bone was not fine- at all. It had not the strength, the hardness, the steel, in it. The great essential to go for wa-s development and the men who were at the top in dairying to-day were those who made a lip-ton job of their * calves. Returning to the head of his subject, Mr Robertson pointed out the value of a well distended nostril to take in oxygen. Investigation had shown that all cows breathed at the same rate, so it was clear thai the best cow must have a wide nostril to take iu an extra supply of air. Tire mouth should lie wide; an undershot mouth was the worst thing a cow could have for she was apt to go wrongs through a weak constitution. Thg next indication of a good constitution was a. well sprung fore rib. Afjtiin she did not want to be "pinched in the heart" and there should be a wide floor to the chs?t. r*ws.sing from constitution, to capacity Sir Robertson stressed the neod for depth, breadth and length in the body. Nature had provided the dairy sow with a bowed rear rib to carry the greater capacity in the under line. Depth was better than length because the dairy cow had a g-reai deal to •arry owing to her heavy eating and then an additional load when she- was carrying a calf, Therefore a strong bask \vas as important in her as in a saddle horse. A dull eye meant a sluggish digestion. The skin was another indication of tthe animal's quality. A fine iikirti was too often referred to as a thin skin, which was quite another, and an undesirable feature. What was to be desired was a skin fine in texture but also heavy. In a cow in perfect milking condition the whole skin would ripr.de when a- handful was pinched up. Regarding the mammary system the old idea that the milk was made in the body and carried to the udder by the 'milk veins" was exnloded. It had been found by the .Americans when they had put twitches on the veins that the cow gave her milk just the same. In the Lee-' cow-, the veining system was on the top line, but in the dairy cow . ;t ■-.. ss'gmte d'hs''iOi t-is Mood hr-rig carried down to the udder with great ' Sores. All dairy cows—it did not ■ matter of what breed—had greatly <ie- ■ veloped veins under the floor of the abdomen. Even though these might . .not. be visible to the eye they must . be there if the row was going to do ' good work Width and length were. , what was wanted in the udder, which , should be well caught forward and well attached behind. The legs should

be thin and arched and set well on the outside square behind the animal. An important point was the texture of the udder which should te so.t and silky. If it would milk risht out to a rag it showed great capacity m the vessel. In the nervous system prominent vertebnue with the nicks ven pronounced and no flesh at all were looked for. While a long tad with, a good bnish added to the appearance ot the cow it had nothing to do with butterfat production. , Towards the close of his lecture Mr Robertson stressed the point that in the show ring other essentials wt:e warded besides those he had mentioned, but all practical judges demanded milking :;a;:vncie.:osG)c= c>r \ pretty cow was not much good n "she. would not produce milk, ?nd official and semi-official ksb*»J taught iudges the value of milking ohanictdrirtfcs: At the same time in the Jersev breed what was known a= the Island type was to It had been developed ky tne Jersey islanders through centuries _of caret JJ breeding, for butterfat production. In some other breeds a type different from the original was developed under New Zealand conditions, but ir I thg Jersey the Island type, was maintained. . M the conclusion a hearty vote >-. thanks was accorded Mr Robertsor for his instructive demonstration. .- similar.vote was-carried to Mr Hon j for his hospitelity.