JUDGING A JERSEY COW.

Shannon News, 6 May 1927, Page 4

JUDGING A JERSEY COW.

i METHODS 'OUTLINED. BY MR. H. J. LANCASTER. A l&rge riuriiber-.if farmers, including a ' griodly proportion of ladies, visitedMr Harold Lancaster’s farm, Fair--1 ' fata,'on Wednesday afternoon, to wit 'jjfgSs a deuioristration of the points of< cattle hy Mr. 11. J. Lancast t^r,vice-president of * the Muhawatu * : ,tfetsfey Club ? The gathering was held 'tinder fhe aiispices of the Horoyvhenua ' Jersey Cattle, Breeders ’• Club, and was 'Very'enjoyable. , Mr. R. Evans* president cf the Ho.rowhemia club, extended '■ a hearty wel- ■ come to those present, remarking that this was one of the largest gatherings do far held under the club’s'Auspices. He* had much pleasure j in introducing Mr. Lancaster, of Glen' Oroua, and in risking him to give the demonstration. THE TYPICAL JERSEY.

Two purebred Jersey heifers were Brought in from Mr. H. J. Lancaster’s herd, and the dem'onstrator gradually passed his ; eyes and hands over them detailing the various points necessary to make up the type of a firstelass pedigree cow. He emphasised that there was- such an animal as a fvpical Jersey cow, as distinguished from a typical dairy (or grade) cow. (Many Jersey cows were called dairy cows, but the difference was always to be' seen in the' head; otherwise . the eh'afacteTistie points weie the same in ’a' dairy cow as in a Jersey cow. The ; lrxst thing he looked for was eonstitu- - tiori/ and that' was always got from the . head of the cow. They Should look for ‘ a large, open nostril,. such as was to be seen in one of the cows -under notice. * ThCre should be a clean-cut and -strong - large mouth, and the , jaw should be strong so that she could do all the feeding that she’wanted. The head should not be too long, and there should be a nice dished forehead* and a'bold, .bright eye. The brightness indicated that the cow was in good health and had plenty of Vigdur. He liked ' ’to nee the head'not too wide above the brow to the poll of the horns, and these should have a nice incurving downward tendency, with soft mejlow appearance, showing perhaps a little yellow colour.'There was an old theory, -held by at lot of people* that rich yelJoy horns indicated -a good butter-fat. producing cow. That was a mistaken idea. The only way to pick a good butter-producer was-by the Babcock 'test. The 1 ear. should be With a soft yellow appearance, and the ■■ face should be well chiselled out undei the eye. In regard to the neck, lie liked to see it ’nice and* clean and hot leathery underneath. The neck should be of medium - lengtff and well set on. the. shoulder; he did -not eare to see a * ewe neck on ; a cow. I Some* breeders, did not like to see any brisket; but he, ■ liked to see it, though hot running to beef. Good width between the front * legs was desirable, giving plenty of rOOrnffcri 1 the heart and liings to do their work. The shoulder blades should be 'Well set' ! in-arid sloping. The most imm portant part of the cow behind the shoulders was the fibs; Without i large open rib a cow could not be much • good. A flat-ribbed cow was not desired; there should be good spreading ribs And plenty or room behind the shoulder blades, giving the heart and 1 ungs space to work in. The same re- ' mark applied to any animal, and-to human beings as well. A man with >'a ’deficient' chest could not stand -up to

hard work. The animal he was.examiu

irig was well filled rourid the girth. • The top line of the back should be perfectly level if possible. One of the • cows was better than the other on the rump, being near perfection in this re- , ' spect. He liked to see fairly wide hips. COWS CARRYING CONDITION. Speaking with regard l to the amount of beef that might be carried by a cow, Mr. Lancaster said that it had been found in the, eases of certain cows that had put up great recotds for butterfat, that at the end of their tests, they were practically fit for butcher; so it did not condemn a cow to see her with- plenty of beef at !the end of her season. It showed that she was getting ready for her next period of milking,' storing up fat to carry her on for the next year. Sometimes a cow Would put up a huge record and finish ? almost in beef condition. Continuing he said that the cow should be nice and . wide through the ful, well coupled up, with the pin bones almost level with the hip bones. The rump should finish level, instead of slanting down. ' H 6 did not fancy the droopy-rump cow; and some ugly ones were seen in different parts of the country. With them there would be found a long pendulous upder. They should have a great length on top to carry the udder well; and he liked to , see them bare , the rump. . The tail should be set almost "like a ‘ plumb-bob and hang straight- down, with a■] good length. There was always a lot 1 of controversy ' about the length .of a cow’s tail. Some people - favoured a .theory that the end of the tail should be two inches be- , low the hocki ;He did; not think it made much difference to the butterfat producing' qualities of the cow. Many milkers must ha’y|?,: often wished that the Cow had rid fail-at all. (laughter.) He liked to see the cow very fine in the thigh—not-with a great hammy or beefy appearance. - There should be a nice curved flank. MILKING ORGANISM. The milk ye.ss.el was a very important feature.-It should be well tied up behind and should 'come well forward and be set on to the body of the ‘ cow as if it Was a continuation of the . body line. The tents ought to be well apart and squarely; placed. Mr . Lancaster added that he was not impressed by a very large udder. ,'Some; cows had -udders that were out of proportion, whereas there should be uniformity throughout the animal. Tremendous 4 udders on - small cows were apt to break away, and that Was when they became pendulous. Such angudder would knock between the legs, and the cow would be driven in to the yard with the milk ‘spurting out of the teats. Sometimes mud collected and Would cause sore teats. It was good to see prominent milk veins running under the ' >body;'; and- a large milkwell where the , Y'A*ein-;werit r back into the body denoted ' 'rtjbatI'* 1 '* there was plenty of room for the: illiflfirrM'*’ ....

blood on its return on the heart . It -flowed in at the back of the vessel, and at the front it flowed back to the heart to be purified, so there should be a large, tortuous milk vein. He favoured what was described as the wedge shaped cow. At Hamilton some people had said that they liked a pear shaped cow. He did not know what a pear shape cow was, and he did not know how they got such a type. The only conception of it which he could form was that of a cow that was very full high up near the shoulders. Neither of the cows at present under his notice Was like that. Any cow that was too full in middle on top was far more likely to get blown on clover than a cow with a nice slanting rib, 'and the owner stood a frequelit chance of losing her. “We have always used the term 'wedge-shaped,’ ” Mr Lancaster added. "Such, a cow is narrow in front and comes back like a wedge; the top is almost straight, and the underline comes down towards the ground. I want you to understand that you get the true Jersey characteristics from the head. That is where you get the difference between the dairy cow and the true character of a Jersey cow. Another important point is the skin of a cow. It should be a very nice, loose skin, bright, and with a silky feel when you put your hand on it.” A SCOTCHMAN’S ADVICE. Farmers would not be likely, to go far wrong if they judged from the standard advised by a Scotchman: "Bright in the eye, straight in the back, thin in the tail, and .fine in the thigh.” The demonstrator said he hjjd heard a man once say that he could pick the highest producing cows by the escutcheon; but he thought that was >. fallacy. The only reliable method was the Babcock test; but a nice escutcheon did add to the appearance of & cow. He had seen some with poor escutcheons which were, at the same time, good producers. He liked to see a cow walking well in the ring, with her head up, showing herself off v as if she was someone. There was a lot in the character of the cow, and there was-much to he said for an active cow that moved quickly. DAIRY TYPE. A dairy cow was afterwards brought into the ring, and Mr. Lancaster remarked that nobody could say she was not a beautiful dairy cow. She was somewhat older than the other examined. Her outstanding qualities were an ideal body, with a better finish on the shoulders than the other two cows. She had plenty of -heart room, with a great depth and that was what was looked for in a typical Jersey cow. She had a wonderful milk vein, with a very large hole where the vein went back into the body; her neck was good, and •n fact it was difficult to find much fault with her.

A judging competition was held among those present, the subject being one of the purebred Jersey cows. Mr. Lancaster had awarded the animal 72 i ooints, and the four best results handed in were:-—Mr. B. B. Bobinson (Manakau) 72, Mrs Evans (Weraroa) 73, Mr B'ould (Weraroa) 73, and Mr. Bowker (Ihakara) 71. Both lunch and afternoon tea were provided by Mrs H. JJ Lancaster, the other ladies assisting, and the refreshments were greatly appreciated. Hearty votes of thanks were passed the de-monstrator'and-to Mr. and Mrs H. J. Lancaster.