ON BREEDING WITHOUT FURTHER IMPORTATION OF NEW BLOOD.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 771, 26 May 1877, Page 3

ON BREEDING WITHOUT FURTHER IMPORTATION OF NEW BLOOD.

The following paper -was read at a recent meeting, of the National Agricultural Society of Tiotoria, by Mr X M Ourr : —

,' There seems to me to he a feeling amongst people who kave not made the laws of breeding a study ■', that English cattle, and perhaps horses, are of a quality which not only has not; been/ bnt cannot be, produced out of Great Britian. Gn this subject I have to state that such can Only tie the fact if the conditions of nature are superior to those of other countries. Now I think it miy be safely stated that iuch is not the case; that the conditions of nature m Great Britain; are of themselves rather adverse than favourable; and

that is only through a constant

struggle with nature that the great ' results of breeding m England have been realised; and that nature has done far more for Australia than for England m this respect, and that superior cattle can be produced at far less cost here than m Great Britain. I also hold it to be an axiom whioh I think those who have made the laws of breeding their study will bear me out m, that when a country, thoroughly suited tp the production df any particular animal, is well supplied with the best strains of blood, m the hands of competent breeders' the time has arrived when further- importation becomes not only .unnecessary, but a positive evil, as such importation stands m the way of stock thoroughly accomodating itself to the particular cir- . cumstances of natnre amidst which it exists. As regards pur. flocks and

herds, I believe ,that the stage at ; which importation becomes an evil, - instead of a benefit, has been reached. Assamiug, however, that it could be shown that certain benefits would be secured by the introduction of, say, English bulls and German rams, it remains to be considered whether the risk m their introduction does nob outweigh the advantages expected. On this subject I would wish to point out that there will probably never be a time m which contagious and infectious diseases of one sort or other, will not find. a place m every European country. Those who are m favour of importation urge that the risk of infection can effectoally be set at nought by~ quarantine. "With these views, however, I am unable to concur, when, find leading veterinaries like Fleming and .Gamgee making statements like the following, which occur m a report on the Texan diseases made to the Government of the United States :— ' During the early part of our investigations we could not fail to ,be forcibly struck by the apparently healthy conditions of the vast Texan steers which had scattered a most deadly poison on the pastures of Illinois and Indiana, and even our dissections limited as they necessarily were, failed to elicit the • truth.' This is what Gamgee said on the subject, and I believe it to b$ a fact that disease of an infecti-

ous character occcasionally exists m 7 animals m such a state as to defy detection. As this Continent en-

joys perhaps linrivalled capacities • for rearing stock of the first quality, and as stock breeding must always be a great industry here, it weroa to me that we have no greater public interest than to keep out disease, which once introduced, can never be eradicated, and that this can only be effected by the exclusion of foreign stock. In considering this ; subject, it seems most ixnpor. tant to bear m mind that practically, Ythe decision as to any animal imporKted being free from disease or "otherwise may not only rest with a veterinary unworthy of trust, but that opinions on subjects of disease are often so numerous as those offering them, and consequently afford but a very insecure basis on . which to act.