Scraps From the "Live Stock Journal." THE BEGINNING OF HIGH PRICES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2057, 12 September 1885, Page 6 (Supplement)

Scraps From the "Live Stock Journal." THE BEGINNING OF HIGH PRICES.

It is oommonly said that improved breeding in Great Britain began with Bakewell, and there can be no doubt that he was the man -whose practice obtained general attention. Bat he had predecessors. Boswell, who, in his "Life of Johnson," has preserved so many curious facts, includes this one— that & Bey. Mr. Taylor, " Bector of Ashbourneand Squire of Bosworth," had cows, 1770 a d., for which he was offered £120 apiece, and bulls which were " gigantic." Possibly Bakewell's contribution (like G. Colling's) may have been that he avoided " gigantio " bulls. There is abundant evidence to show that very big animals were not infrequent in the beginning of the century. Some old Herefordshire papers speak of a bull which had a live weight of 35 cwt. , breed not stated. Our American contemporaries— like some English statisticians, who recently would not believe in the existence of a centenarian — have expressed the opinion that no " bovine " ever reauu t ." a live weight of 4,0001b5. Possibly this may be true, but it is certain that weights exceeding thU have been claimed for several animals. There used to be a legend in Yorkshire of a bull which weighed alive two tons. Yet, to borrow a phrase of Cordinal Newman's " per* hapa it was a brag."

FATTED JERSEY S. Among noteworthy facts of recent displays of fatted beasts must be mentioned what is called a " running calf," which formed part of the Christmas meat shown by a large butcher in Norwich. A running oalf means the offspring of a cow or heifer which is reared on the dam, both being fed with a view to early slaughter. If tho dam gives a fair quantity of rich milk, very wonderful youDg beaits are produced in thia way. Of couree, when the dam's milk is poor, or where the other food ia injudiciously selected, failure will result. In the instance referred to, the running calf was the produce of a Jersey dam ; and the breed of the sire was not stated. Tho young animal was only 11 monthi old ; and had a caroase weight of no more than 29 atones of 1 libs. To thia there wai totually 10 stones of met. Saoh a proportion is enormous: could only have been produced by sucking a dam whose milk contained a very unusual proportion of butterfat ; the cow being fed throughout as to stimulate to the utmost a natural inclination to secrete butter-fat. Supposing this suet to b« converted into butterine, to what extent would it differ from the ordinary produce of the churn ?