Palmerston Show

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 141, 9 November 1914, Page 6

Palmerston Show

A GREAT SUOCi£»3. Palmerston North, November 7. The JJritish and Belgian Relief Fund benefits by over £1101) from the Manawatu tihow. The merino rani not inappropriately Earned Kaiser Bill was sold and resold until £OO/ had been realised. Tlio principal buyers were Ernest Short £l4O, P. A. M'Hardy £llO, L. M'Uardy £SO, Kensington £35, T. A. Duncan £lO3. The others buyers included a number of children at threepence each. The ladies of Palmerston ran luncheon and tea rooms, which netted about £-130. Yesterday the attendance at tlie sliow was a record, tile number present being ; 28,138. The takings for the three days were £370 ahead of last year and within £56 of tlio record in the year 1912. Considering the war, the result is eminently satisfactory. The total gate stands at £IOO7.

NEWS AND NOTES. (]!y our Special Reporter). There were few Taranaki exhibitors. Two well-known breeders of the province, Messrs K. liriliiths and R. J. Linn, however, showed animals of rare quality,: and occupied proud positions on the priza list, ill' Linn's cow securing the champion ribbon. The aged cow class, in which -she competed, was full of quality right up to the very best standard. .Mr bum's Bilberry sth, recently purchased by him at a big price, had a long list of successes in Canterbury, and made the semi-official record of SO.'ilbs. of butter fat last season. She was close ly followed by Mr E. Eagle's beautiful cow, Belvedere's Sun Gleam. Both these cows were sired by K.C.B. The third cow', Mr MeCrea's Floss 5, showed great daily qualities, but did not milk out so clean an the others, and showed rather lens type. The 3yr. heifers were a nice, lot, but the winner, the daughter of Majesty's Fox, who also won trie reserve champion, is a remarkably fine cow, and will be beard from later. The two-year-olds brought out some exceptionally line heifers. Mr R. ,T. Una's Miss' Molina, a daughter of the bull imported to the Stratford district by Messrs. Bayly, Ilcaly, and Hancock, was an outstanding winner. This hcit■r v milked as high as HSlbo. <!; ■ The second prize taken was in somewhat low condition, but was much fancied. This heif"r was the sought-after in Mr Phillips' sale eventually changing hands at tin- bargain price of oigii;.. The third prize wint to a daughter of Campanile's Sultan, but some judges were of opinion that she was lucky, giving preference to Mr Di-ruler's Waipiku Mozelle. The champion and reserve-champions were both bred by Mr. H. E. B. Wat-011 from TuzHsb'A Pledge out of K.C.B. cows, and Dr. Wat-ion's winning bull, l'ariay of .M Brook, also showed the pre i*>lt m.y of Mr CritlitVs bull. The winning I:i Ifrrs and bull all came from the Bel! f'.los:; farm, and were generality spu!'.-.; e? as some of the handsomest you v .; :e'i ever seer. 011 the ground. The■ ' V,. the best that Mr Griffiths had :',e'- bred. ]:i th-> yearling heifers V-i-- •'' ;iilon secured lirst and second t 1 three (ie. ' .d'ters of K.C.B. Two of them

v.vv" i: -..1 the best pair of heifers, i'ri'i by the same sire, was the v••••r.rliii;.; bull in tile ring. The but-t'.r-frt competition resulted in a win n;.:: I ''.'- l'u- li:;l.tcr breeds. It is (jueswhether the four days' test, as at present. conducted by tl:o Association, U u mir teat of the productivity of the cows submitted, for they are herded in .strange surroundings, and are pot likely to do themselves full justice. Against this it is urged that: "It is as fair for one as for another." '.The winning cow secured the first award last year. She is an Ayrshire—Jersey cross, allowing the Ayrshire color and conformation. Her records for the four days were '2'2olbs of milk, of a 4.G test, 10.1-2 lbs fat. Next came 1). liuclianan's Ayrshire-Jersey, ITS.IHhs milk, 5.4 test, 9.6 Bibs fat. S. R. Lancaster was third with a grade Jersey, 1821bs milk, 5.0 test and 9.1711)3. fat. \Y. J. Lovelock's Tries-ian-llolstcin was fifth, 18!).51bs milk, 3.7 test, 7.341b5. fat, and the. second cow of tlie same breed gave 2021bs milk, 3.0 test, C.OOlbs. fat.

ITERDTN'O TOfTETJEKRi SHOW STOCK. Complaint was rife sit l'dl;.iev.iton X concerning the action of the Association ill herding together on Tuesday night some seventy ••tittK* of all lirrnls ::i one paddock. 'lt-,".' t] exhibit at about Cl.'iO, wliieli U a lot of money to put under one skin at any time. lie was naturally indiijnant when in: found that liis valuable cow, vriiieli belongs to one of too. i-iiviller bri'nl had been exposed to imminent risk of serious injury i>v liein;; run in a paddock with such a iiumb'-r of others. The man wlio voiced the complaint to the News reporter said that few breeders woulti care to risk their cattle a'.sihi the same way, and !;? 'nopeil that tin- Taranaki sboiv authorities would not W.»py the Manawatu fixture in this partienl'i detail.. L'jion the matter being liientioned to another exhibitor of purebred cattle, he said that upon ascertaining the state of affairs he had decided to leave his stock in the pens, where, tin* !ii : :ht being warm, they were comfortable ar.d quite secure from molestation. coMrLAi.vr* r.K .tuDOixfl. An exhibitor in one of the cattle sections—he was not a Tura iraki man—complained to some friends that he was not being given a chance by the judge, "lie doesn't want any of my stuff," he said, ami by much talk of this kind he prevailed upon bis friend to lead his two heifers round the judging ring for him, when the next class was judged. The change of attendant, however, failed t* change the luck. This brings up one' again the question of the desirability of well-known breeders leading their own animals in the ring. It is frequently alleged that judges are swayed in favor of a particulai\ beast when they see it in the hands of Mr liig-ljreeder, and thus discover that it conies of a famous prize getting strain. The 'retort of the upholders of the system is that to argue in this way is to cast an entirr];- unwarranted and unfair aspersion" on the, character and impartiality to say nothing of the ability, of the Moreover, they say, no animal shows so "well as when handled by the .man who has been in the habit of attending to it, anil that it is far safer and results in far greater expedition in the work of judging when a beast is nervous in the show-ring is re-assured by the touch and voice ef a person who.n it knows. There is certainlv much to be said on either side of the "question.

T-LT.-AIiYTSJvD HiCa>?,lMiv\']UTi! «X. On:* would. ox»>pf?t breeders of purebred cattle to Jm keen on seen);; purohrods in general use. In tlmt ease he would, in urging another man to purchase n purebred bull, point to the probable pain to the individual farmer by building up a herd of purebreds and forsaking the crossbred or mongrel type. This has always appeared to the writer to be one of the main reasons for the holding of stock shows—that the man

on the land may see the typicai beast and ascertain just how to bring about a permament improvement in the class of stock he is running. If this is not the purpose of the show, what' is the purpose? The leader, in a*conversation overheard at the ringside at Palmerston North supplies the answer and also furnishes an entirely new argument in- favor of the purchase of bulls. The man under notice was an exhibitor, whose stock was in the ring. He himself was inside the railing, too, and he was haranguing a young farmer to the ultimate object of selling him a bull. And this part of the conversation was heard: "You don't need to pay a hundred guineas for a bull, nor fifty either. I can soil you a bull for thirty guineas that will suit you just as well as purebreds, and you will be able to sell them at big prices." And so on. Fancy urging a man to breed grade bulls that "look as well as purebreds." What would the harvest be? Mongrels. There must be a poor demand for the particular breed of rattle referred to, or cash must lie very, very scare indeed, wdien a prominent breeder and exhibitor lias to paint a glowing picture of the profits of raising grade bulls in order to facilitate the sale of a pedigree bull.

TJIP: AYESIHUK Hl'.X. The Ayrshire men —or, at any rate,] tin: Waicn ones, wore lmvmg a rare : eld groivl concerning tlio judging. Cows with tiny teats wore walking off with the principal awards, and these of the Ayrshire fancy who were, also dairymen, or who were breeding for sale to dairymen, waxed eloquent in condemnation of the judge. (That gentleman hailed from the South Island, and wa3 not now milking his own herd, bo the disgruntled ones said. Jf he were milk ing cows, they went, on, he would look for teata of a fair size, whereas the opposite was the ease. The Xorth Island Ayrshiremen teemed to have arrived at an understanding that a teat of from 2 '/.to Sin. was a fair thing to expect so that in ordinary hand-milking there would bo something to lay hold of. In the particular ease under notice at the time when the winning cow had teats which, with the Ujhler fully extended, looked more like enlarged pim. pies. There is much to be said in support of the complaint. In breeding ! cattle for dairy purposes, butter-fat is, of course, all important, but it is essential that the cow must be provided with decent teats. For time is money on the. dairy farm nowadays, and much valuable time is lost when the milker has to deal with short-teated cows. It i is a point upon which the Ayrshire mijn | should arrive, at some definite, standard. . Tli« judge has his reasons for his preferences, however, as was afterwards elicited ill conversation. He detected a i tendency to sacrifice and constitution ! in the Ayrshire, mainly, he believed, I owing to the fact that' they were; be- j ing brought into profit at too early an j age. lie urged that the Ayrshire sholud ; not calve until they were three years I of age, in order that tliov might become { fully developed, and thus better able to , do their duty at the pail and the but j ter fat scales. He exhibited, for this j reason, a decided preference for bigger animals, allowing robust constitution, j There was one opinion expressed by i many interested people around tr. * , stein judging ring that the beef type j was earning most of the awards. Com- . petent men urged that some of the j stock which was placed in the list of I awards exhibited better dairy points, though, perhaps, not in such perfect j show condition. Comparison of the prire- ■ list with the figures declared in the champion butter-fat' competition indicates that there is something in the complaint. The results of the semi-offic-ial tests conducted last year might also '-<! read with interest and satisfaction by people who were inclined to disagree I with the decisions at Palmerston Xorth. .

BUTTKU-FAT Oil PEDIGREE? Butter-fat, or pedigree? This question lias been agitating the minds of the Shorthorn men for some time. By breeding for beef 01117, the Shorthorn m have found themselves left out of the reckoning of men building up dairy herds, it is a fact, though, that the milking strain of Shorthorns is a profitable type, and is the ideal dual purpose coiv. Here in Taranaki the idea of the dual purpose cow has been discounted, and the production of butter-fat is practiqally the "be-all und end-all" of the dairy cattle study. At Palmerston .Vorth 011 Thursday tile first animal general wc'liiiß of the Milkia gHiwrtlwa I'rreders' Assoriation was hold. The priueipa! )>«<>»•>.•! was to discuss the afii ] lai.ion of i,iio \Vaii;aU> Dairy Shoriihorn Association. The ciiairnian, m tiv cmirse of his open'm;; remarks, sai.l that the majority oi Shorthorn breeder* in Canterbury were opposed to the idea of milking Shorthorn A-sswir.tion, for the simple reason that they had sacrificed b,;U,T-i';vt IV;:' beef, and iioir co'linlninoil that the standard of 3T.011»s of butter-fat '"'i by t!ie North Island breeders was far too high. as compared with the English standard of 24021 m. But, said the chairman. in the North Island they had to coronet: 1 with the other dairy broods, 'the Waikato Association offered to aiiiiiato subject to the adoption of this clause: "That an appendix to the Herd ihiok be opened for cows of a Shorthorn apjicarnnw that have produced the required amount of butter-fat for the seasou and na-ised the official inspection; and, under similar conditions, if sired bv a registered Shorthorn hull, the female progeny r.i> to great-great-grand-daughter!! shall he eligible for entry in the appendix; the groat-great-grand-daaghtors of such cows entered in the appendix shall be eligible, under similar conditions, to be entered in the herd hook." It was explained that under the i'ahnerston \orth rules only those registered femelis were eligible for the advanced register which po.ssod the semiolticial test, and one prominent brooder said this should be the niiii of the breed ers. He strongly opposed the admission of anv animals allowing l.he least strain oi other Wood, to which the Waikaco delegate replied that many herd-book ::iro.-> were I'jLiit" unfitted for starling a dairy herd. Tn the course of further discussion the sueee.-s of the Holstein Association waft mentioned, and this in spile of the fact that it had not always been so particnlsr about pedigree. The Association decided against the. clause suggested by Waikato, and the affiliation scheme failed, and the Waikato delegate summed up the. position thus: The I'alnierston body set most value 011 pedigree, while Waikato put butter fat fi l'st.

OEa'ERAT,- TTB'M sfr .T. ('. f.aw', o.* Jfatajm, has been elected one of tlip vicc-jirosirlcnts of the. •Milking Sliorlhorn Association. ■ Nlate having ileciuoil to encourage tin? breeding of horses suitable for artillery horses and romouuts, horse-breeders are aakinjr for a lead as to the beat bnea to adapt for their production. Mr K. Short, president of the .Yfannwatu A. and P. Association, i'sj>mskoil his view iliat the bent way to pvt. arhllery horses was to pn!: a good milk-cart innr- to an good uiiKt-aniUn", "'ell-lnvd, even thoroughbred mare*, ;lii>nl;l L»e put to the best t"pe of active Clydesdales. A remount lias to carry from 14 to 10 stone, and tlio opinion of Mr Short seems to coincide with the opinion of many other breeders. Some, however, are inclined