OUR VETERINARY COLUMN

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 204, 29 August 1916, Page 4

OUR VETERINARY COLUMN

Breeding and Management of Cattle. By Dk. DICK., It may be taken as axiomatic; that " like begets like," and fuither, that man has power or ability to mould, modify, and control the forms, habits and peculiarities of the animals brought up under his care, which minister to the necessities or add to the luxuries of his exis'euco. This ability is, however, more the product of long continued observation, patient trial, and, as it wore, instructive skill, than the results of the teachings of physiological science. Scienco in this, as in other branches, will do much to aid the breeders in bringing about the result hj« aims at; but it is true in this department at that observant and discriminating will do more. Ido not say this in disparagement of science ; it only limits its power and capabilities where these cannot be exerted to the full, though the controlling and modifying iniluences which bring into operation a very wide and perplexing variety of difficulties— difficulties all the more perplexing from the artificial manner in which we bring up our stock : a manner in some instances pretty far removed from that in which nature operates. As I said at the beginning "like begets like." Now. although this is true as a general rule, it has its exceptions, which become extremely puzzling when met with, and which apparently cannot be explained by any known or recorded laws of physiology ; they only prove how difficult it is to lay down any principle which will invariably operate in cases where life, with all its mysterijus and manifold phenomena, is concerned. In no 'art, therefore, is patience, long exercised and untiring, discriminating observation, and ready skill, so much desiderated as in the art of breeding. To raise a successful breed of cattle or sheep, is the work of time, and of considerable time; it is not and cannot be the work of a day, a happy thought, or quickly elaborated experiment, as in mechanics or chemistry. In carrying out the raising of all breeds of cattle, various points have to be considered. First, the form of the animal best fitted for the purposes for which we are breeding ; this involves the consideration of what are termed " points" of the animal. Second, the relative influence of the parents, male and female, in producing the form. Third, the relative merits of the two modes of breeding: 'in and in" on the principle of consanguinity, or "cross" which is the reverse of this. Fourth, the purpose for which the animal is desired. (To be Continued.)