FARM AND GARDEN

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4521, 12 September 1893, Page 2

FARM AND GARDEN

Breeding from Immature Stock, Immature breeding, ilppiywliea special bare is taken, suoffoare, in fact as is almost impossible oil an ordinary I farm, inevitably stunts the dam. Size is one of the qualities of living .itockthatis most certainly transmitted by tbe operation of the laws of heredity. Nature plans for the young, taking tile ■jgrentage, and especially tbe dam, model, In other words, she adapts the young to conditions which have mads' the parent what it is, Nature acta with indigent judgment, but whether we call it intelligent judgment or not the effects are the same. Weexpeot the young heifer, coining in under two years old, to have a. small calf,; and we exoiise the size by saying " That is because it is a heifer's oalf" It is 'a common 'saying among old country farmers that" the'old. sow's ,piga are a month old bar fore'they aieborn." By this-saying they mean thattheyoungof immature animals aro always at a disadvantage,

,Wo all knew from practical ex-1 perience that if this is kept up from /generation to generation the slock willdegenerato in aiio Or vigour, hut Nature is wisoi" than we, and she' plaus Brst, lost, and all the time to inako lite euro to the young by ; dwarfing the form to suit the conditions, taking the parentage .•especially on the female sido as a guide, Wherever, therefore, size is . desirable, breeding from immature stook should be. avoided. In beof cattle, where size is of firs' importance, it isfolly to bring in heifers iindor two years old, The first result is JJwTled heifer, and the second an tinofersrae calf. Keep this up for a few generations and the result is a small strain of cattle, no matter wliat the breed, Thesamo law applies to pigs and sheep, In the Western Slates of Amerio# the breed of pigs has degenerated wonderfully during tbe past 10 years, arid exports attribute the falling-off to two causes the continous breeding sows, and the other .the failure to supply food that has sufficient material to build up the bony and musclar structure. With dairy cattle, however, size is not an essential element. We reloi', ofj course to tbe real dairy breeds, in whioh beef capacity is scarcely tin incident, In this case tlio dairymen desires tbe early development of milking capacity. He does not expect the dairy cow to endure hardships, He is working 'for the greatest possible numbor of pounds of butter fat, is proportion to live weight. Mot desiring size or ability, size ho is always ready to snorifico for milk production, and therefore ho does, perhaps, the wise thing in breeding at an early age. It is this early breeding that has made tho Jersey oattle 60 small in their native home. Whether, therefore, breeding should be early or lato depends on the object in view, If eizo and vigour are desired, tbon brerding from young or iramaturo animals should b« voided, If, on the other hand, some special purpose, such as milk or wool, in which size is or a positive disadvantage, then breed from immature animals, if in other respects it is desirable.— Exchange.