IMPROVEMENT OF LIVE STOCK.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1293, 12 October 1880, Page 3

IMPROVEMENT OF LIVE STOCK.

Improving the character of live stock is one of the inrest -ways of increasing 1 the wealth of a. country. There ia no risk or speculation involved in the matter ; a stook-ownerwho sets about improving: his flock or hia herd may feel sure that he will be amply compensated in the long run. | The difference between a good animal and • a bad one of any species is so great and so ! obvious that it seems strange that stock of an inferior character should be tolerated." I It is not every man who has the capital requisite for the purchase of high class stock, nor the judgement and natural aptitude required in a first-rate breeder, but it is within the reach of any ordinary farmer to improve the character of his stock to an appreciable extent without the expenditure of such money, or the exercise of special talent. Good blood is undoubtedly a great desideratum but if the best blood in the sires is not obtainable, : judicious and persevering culling in th<j j females works'wonders. "Cut short yourlosses and let your profits run on," is a reI mark made by an eminent writer on political economy, but the difficulty is to find out where the leakages are and how to stop J them when they are discovered. In the management of stock, however, • the case is very simple. A bad doing and thrift- I less animal should never be allowed to run j on, for the longer it is kept the greater will be the loss. "Witness for example the difference between a kindly doing bullock and a gaunt, hungry, hide-bound brute which appears to be expressly designed by nature for consuming the maximum of food, with the minimum result in the way ef flesh. The most limited experience in grazing is sufficient to convince anyoue that an animal of the latter class is a constant source of loos to its owner. The ancient Egyptian King beheld in his dreams that the ill favoured and lean fleshed kine did eat up the well favoured and fat kine, and it continues to be so up to the present day. A percentage of bad doing animals in a herd devour the profit that should be derivpd from their well favoured fellows. Some cattle will never fatten, while others will keep in fair condition. Improvement by means of culling is a much slower process with cattle than with sheep, and therefore all the more stress is to be laid on the importance of obtaining good sires. To a cattle owner a really good bull ia an invaluable possession, and leaves, as the Swedish proverb says of the sheep, golden I footprints behind him. Many English landowners understand so well the influence of a good bull in adding to the productive value of the land that they provide at their own expense well bred animals for the use of tenants on their estates. Cattle are machines for converting the vegetable products of the soil into meat and dairy produce, and whether the machines do their work efficiently or not makes all the difference between profit and loss, We have no intention in this article of touchiug upon any of "those fine and much disputed points which are involved in the breeding of Ktud stock. Our remarks are intended for the ordinary run of stockowncrs who for the most part have no ambition of taking honours on the show ground. Many farmers are apt to underrate the value of the work done by good breeders. They perhaps admire the result of the efforts of the few good breeders whom we have in the country, but regard it as a matter in which they have no practical concern. This, however, is a mistake which should be guarded against, for, notwithstanding what we have already said as to the possibility of obtaining a profitable class of stock chiefly by means of selection without employing the highest olass of sires, yet the process is greatly facilitated, and the improvement earned much further when good blood and selectiou are combined. If all the stockowners of a country, aim only at mediocrity, the result will fall much below that. But it is the demand for an article which causes it to be produced. There are few men who can afford, or who are willing to undertake the breeding of high class stock from patriotic motives alone. Unless the financial outcome is satisfactory, good breeders will soon cease to exist. Breeding is, perhaps, sometimes carried to the extent of a hobby, but there is little danger of anything 1 of the sort taking place in the Colony, as there are comparatively few men who can afford to indulge in fancies of so expensive a character. Each branch of agriculture must go hand in hand with others. If we brpak up new land, and replace the native grasses by artificial pastures, the work will, in a g>*eat measure, be thrown away, unless we have a profitable class of stock to feed upon them. If any proof were wanted of the benefit conferred upon a county by the presence of first-rite breeders, we have only to turn to the history of the Leicester sheep, and the shorthorn breed of cattle. From a race of heavy boned, ill -shaped, slow -ripening 1 , sheep, Bukcwell worked out a variety almost the antipodes of the original type. The Leicester sheep aro far from perfection, but they are a wonderfnl instance of what may be accomplished in tho modification of breeds by human ingenuity. The strong points of the Leicester sheep are its earliest developement and accumulation of weight on a given quantity of food, both of which are features of the utmost importance to English farmers. Of the value of Rhorthorn cattle, not nnly to English agriculturists, but to stockowners all over the civilised world, it ia hardly necessary to i speak. Since the famous "Hubback* 1 was calved, a century ago, tlvero has been ' revolution in cattle growing. Through the influence of that breed the meat-pro-ducing 1 capacity of the world has been increased to an incalculable degree. Other breeds are localised, the shorthorn is cosmopolitan. — Canterbury Times.