FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 217, 13 March 1914, Page 5

FARM AND DAIRY.

€ | DUAL. PURPOSE COWS. r The shortage of the world's beef B" }, ply and the rise in the value of beef, j together with the prospect of a further j increase in the near future, is again j directing the attention of breeders and j dairy farmers towards the dual-"urpoßc c cow —the butter-producer and the ipest- . supplier. There have been made such j strenuous and well-directed efforts towards the production of a high type of butter-producers that the meat department has naturally been relegated to semi-obscurity, yet it. has been proved , that by careful selection Shorthorns can ' run Jerseys very close in butter-fat pro- . duction, while their utility as meat providors is beyond question. -A valuable addition will shortly be made (says the * New Zealand Farmer) to the dairy * [Shorthorn herd' at Sunnyside Mental j Hospital, a bull and two heifers having " [been shipped from Britain. Owing to ' the rapid strides dairying is making at Home, and the phenomenal rush for pedigree milking Shorthorns, both by « the Home dairymen and the Canadian, ' Amerian and Argentine stockmen, there has been great difficulty in tilling the J order, but it has at length been aceom- ' plished. The dam of the bull was third i both in the inspection and, of more im- I portance, in the milking clascs at the ' recent London Dairy Show, competition 1 being so keen that the last six in the I inspection class had to be submitted to milking in the ring to enable the judges I to come to their decision. Another in- 1 stance of the attention which is now 1 being given to Shorthorns is to be | found at the Ruakura State Farm, j where a herd of this breed is being ac- 1 cumulated. In some of the high-tlasß grazing districts on the Main Trunk | line purebred Shorthorns are being 'held < in much esteem, and have proved a profitable venture for the breeders, but ] these animals are for beef only, and as < such find a ready and lucrative sale. It i is the fashion to regard the Shorthorns as "beef" animals, and there is some ( justification for that view, inasmuch | as they have proved consistent prize- ] takers as fat cattle both in purebred and cross classes. At the same time it j has been proved that under a process j of careful selection they take a very high place as milkers, and now that the question of winter feed has been satisfactorily settled in Taranaki it is not surprising to find that on some of the J higher-priced lands Shorthorns arc taking their place as profitable assets.' The : farmers who possess foresight can read the signs of the times, and though they : rightly appreciate the good points of t,lia smaller animals, whieh are pre-emi- , nently fitted for butter production, they arc leaning towards the second string in the bow—the dual purpose cow—and they will score.