PAYING FOR THE PEDIGREE.

Putaruru Press, Volume II, Issue 26, 10 April 1924, Page 4

PAYING FOR THE PEDIGREE.

DEMONSTRATORS ADVICE

Buy From Producing Cattle,

“ Wc pay three parts of the purchase price for the pedigree and the other part of the price for the cow but the pedigree does not make tire cow,” were the remarks of Mr. H. E. B. Watson, official demonstrator of the New Zealand Jersey Breetlers’ Association, during an address at Mr. O. Glynn’s farm; Morrinsville, on Tuesday. The Breeders’ Association, continued Mr. Watson, had now registered 16,000 bulls as pedigrees. Hundreds were being' added to the list each year. Pedigree bulls, therefore, would become cheaper, but the outstanding bulls would be dearer. For this reason be advised farmers to buy good bulls now. It was a mistake to buy an inferior bull because it was a little cheaper. A Voice from the Ringside: Whydoes the Jersey Breeders’ Association admit these second-class bulls?

Mr. Watson: That’s what I want to know. Any animal, he said, for which a pedigree could be shown may be entered in the herd book. Some of them, he agreed, were not worthy of such recognition. In the purchase of one bull all one man paid was for the bottle of red ink for the writing of the pedigree and he paid 210 guineas for it. The bull proved to be useless as far as production was concerned. Farmers should not buy anything except from good producing- cattle, and if the farmers could only be convinced of the soundness of that advice they would be in a better position than tTiey were today. He had been asked how was it that the producers had got better grade cattle in many of the herds than the breeders had among- their pedigrees. At first he had not known how to answer that question. He knew that assertion to be a fact and had since given the matter a great deal of thought. He had found that the solution was the fact that the producers reared only the best calves. The producers culled and culled heavily, while the breeders raised all the animals—scrubbers included.