MR SOMERVELL ON COW JUDGING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1755, 7 August 1884, Page 2

MR SOMERVELL ON COW JUDGING.

This well known Ayrshire landlord, ; writing to a contemporary, says:—As the proposed new class for Ayrshire cattle started by the Sorn Parish Agricultural Association has given rise to considerable comment, I would ask permissian to state the reasons why this may prove not merely important, ■ ; but ultimately beneficial, to dairy ■■"' farmers. Ayrshire cattle are undeni- ' ably the best for- milking purposes, but they are the only breed fur which. fancy prizes have never as yet been This suggests a weak point and it is desirable to, if possible, .dis ' cover the fault-and prescribe the:-- ; ■remedy. In the opinion of many, the £ weak poiut lies in tho present system •'" of judging. There are two classes of 7 buyers—those who purdisse to im- - prove their herds, In all beef-produc-ing cattle both classes have been secured—in Ayrshire only the former; and the reason is not far to seek. In the shorthorn and other meat-producing tribes, the two essential points a're a large wide frame upon which to hang beef, and a constitution that . takes on meat' and fat easily. These points are adopted by the judges, with • the result that an animal can begin •"■' a successful career as a stick, and continue it in maturer years, and the purchaser of that animal, or of one of ' his relatives, will not merely own an animal admittedly good for the show ring, but an animal valuable to the butcher, and one that if bred from will improve and leave its mark on a herd j& Turn now to Ayrshires, and what do W we find 1 That the breeders of prize bulls rarely breed a prize milch-cow :, that the breeders of yeld quey storks' and two-year-olds rarely take a prize with them in the cow-in-milk classes; that the same cow occupies a totally different pcsition in the cow-in-calf •'-. classes to what she does if shown in ■ the cow-in-milk classes; and, lastly, ' that the prize takers in the cow-in-classes are very seldom really gocdmilkers. Moreover, any one who has attended shows and show dinners cannot have failed to have heard remarks fall from the judges in reference to the prize animals, such as" I would never choose that bull to breed from;" " that quey will never be heard of in milk;" "if you want to see a perfect vessel look at this, but for a good body that is the one"—l he first referring to which has probably a very neat and .' tight vessel, with well set-on tits; thJf| latter to an animal low down 011 list; while the best milker of . all, which is propably alluded" to as a capital dairy cow, the ** most flattering term one would think that could be applied, has a vessel of greater bulk and less neatess, and is not even commended. In fact, • the prize milch cow is like the masher, of the periol-the one can hardly look over his collar, and the other does not ;• give much milk for fear of injuring the ' symmetry of her vessel The result is'', that buyers ot prize animals are con- ? fined to the class who wish to have or ' breed show-ring cattle, and those only ; of a particular class. And the ] American, Canadian, and, in fact, all" practical men who \vi3ll to improve their herds stand aloof, because their object is milk, and milk alone. They in fact leel that they are more likely to '.. injure than improve their stock by introducing prize strains. Having - endeavored to point out the blot, 1 now •• I desire to suggest the remedy. AyrI shire cows are suited for milk, and milk only: they cannot compete as • meat producers with anyof the other tribes. Let this fact be acknowledged, md Let breeders breed for milk andfj" determiae not to keep or breed from a cow which 'does not yield a certain quantity of milk in the year, containing a given quantity of milk in the year, containing a given proportion of • cream. Let them use as stock bulls those only which are the product of cows that comply with the above conditions, Let them carefully note the points of these animals from their youth upwards; and let there be prizes given at our agricultural shows for' the best' * milker. The racer and the hunter are both horses, but they are used for different-purposes but their points are different; but in each case stress is laid upon the formation that best enables the animal to perform the task required of it, So with the greyhound and the pointer; so it is with the meat producing cattle; so it is with the Ayrshire as a milk producer. ' Whoever can form a breed that, generation after generation, are thorough milkers, with common** characteristics, will have solved thefP problem. When from photographs of his old cows in their youth, and from their young, he can show these points; they must come to be the points used' in the show-ring. The good milker ■ will, from its first youthful public - appearance, have a successful career,-, and then, and not till then, will' / American and other buyers come for- '.'..' ward and give for Ayrshire cattle thoseprices to whioh their merits as the best- -?;. milkers in the world justly entitle them, ■