BETTER BULLS.

Shannon News, 23 September 1924, Page 3

BETTER BULLS.

. 'SOUND REASONS FOR THE USE OF A PEDIGREE SIRE, Although the conditions in this country are so, f,aYouraJ?U3 for; dairying it is a. regrettable fact that the majority of form* arei not returning the income of. wfaAQh they &x.e capable, lor the reason that the producing ability o't 'the dairy cqw is inefficient. While there are several dairy herds to-day yielding an ayar.age of well over 3001 b buttexfat for the season, tlie average production per cow is still far too low. The present scourge to the dairy world is the scrub bull ' which, being a, cqmbiiiation of many dijfferent breads of beef and dairy strains., has descended to a state of uselessness, either fojr file transmission of beef or. dairy qualities. The reason is obvious. For years breeders of beef cattle have aimed to create an animal which would consume a large quantity of food and digest and carry it to those portions of the- body where it is assimilated and manufactured into beef. In the beef animal the blood for the greater part carried the digested nutrients, after utilising those neqessary for the maintenance of ihe body, to the top distributed in the form o£ beef or fat over the shoulders, chine, back, loin, ribs, rump and thighs. f On the other hand, the breeders of ; dairy cattle, have striven to create an animal that would consume a large quantity of food, digest, and assimilate it and send the digested nutrients arouna to the lower part c-i the body to the udder, where it is manufactured into milk and butterfat. It may be seen, therefore, that by crossing the beef strains with those of the dairy, the resulting progeny must be a deteriorated beef animal and <a less valuable milk producer. The majority for dairjt cows have, therefore, for many generations, been bred from * deteriorated beef ! and dairy ancestry t and it requires a sire" of strong and pure blood, Whether of beef or dajry quality, to ! increase productiveness for either 1 industry. ; All the good management and food is wasted unless you have a class ■ of cow which is capable of m&nu- ; facturing into milk and butterfat all '■ the feed which B he consumes, other ' than that which is required for her own sustenance and forTjie requirements to produce a "strong and healthy qalt The matter of placing a pedigree bull of proven strains at the head of ■ the dairy herd % one deserving of : special consideration. The tnflu- ; en.ee of the pedigree sire will be very noticeable in (he first generation, and apart from increasing production, heifers by a pedigree sire will always command a better price than those by an ordinary crossbred bull. :