JERSEY BREEDERS MEET

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 720, 20 July 1929, Page 29

JERSEY BREEDERS MEET

WHANGAREI CLUB 1 (From Our Own Correspondent) WHANGAREI, Friday. The annual meeting of the VVhangarei Jersey Club was held this week, Mr. C. Stevens presiding over a fair attendance. Touching on the outstanding teatures of the year, Mr. Stevens referred to the great increase in production over the past year. The election of officers resulted as

followsz—President. Mr. C. Stevens (re-elected); committee. Messrs. J. Clarke, A. Phillips, A. Brown, A. Morrison, and Dr. Walker; secretary, Mr. D. Blumhardt (re-elected). Messrs. F. Biles. E. Parkes, D. Kerr, H. Hawken, and H. Coles were elected new members. 0n the motion of Mr. J. A. Finlay son, it was decided to write to the New Zealmid Jersey Cattle Breeders" Association requesting that Messrs. Stevens, Christie, and Phillips be. appointed oificiul judges.

THE RED POLL

ORIGIN OF THE BREED i __ 1 i The origin of Red Polled cattle isi differently interpreted by different E writers. It is thought that the breedi was derived from the polled cottle of} Southern Europe, as. for example,‘l Hungary or Central Russia, Where the ; cattle possessed the soft satiny skin? of the Red Poll. The fact is, says a writer in the American Red Polled Journal. the breed has developed, like \other British breeds, from material which passes beyond historical record. ‘We do know. however, that the breed was introduced into England soon iatter the Roman occupaticn. Bede lsays that the folk who settled in East—lern England brought with them their islaves, their cattle, and all their live 1 stock.

Certain it is the breed has existed‘ in Suffolk as far back as we can trace the history. In England the Suffolk and Norfolk cattle were the best milkers, although they were small, polled, and the colour varied. The Norfolk cattle were of a. deep blood red colour, small bones, and fattened easily. These possessed poor dairy qualities. Jonas Reive, of Wigton, and Richard England, of Binham, began to improve and secure a type combining the good qualities of the Suffolk and the Norfolk. The introduction of Red Polled cattle into America no doubt first occurred in colonial times in the English settlements. “Mulley 01‘ Red Polled cattle” have been known in anstex-n United States for over a cen--Itury. , 7 A ~ h __ A ‘ ,

In 1847 a, Suffolk polled heifer was presented to the captain of the vessel Jamestown, that took provisions to Ireland to relieve the famine. She was brought to Massachusetts, and from her descended a line of stock termed “Jamestown cattle” in Massachusetts that produced polled cattle of superior quality.