Feb. 3, 1908.] Agricultural Gazette of N.SJF. 93 



will be capable of stamping bis type on a very high percentage of his calves. 

 The farmer should, however, first make up his mind as to the breed of animal 

 calculated to suit his soil, chmate, and class of farming; and, having fixed 

 this, should stick to bulls of that breed for three generations of animals at 

 least. By that time his cattle wil! have, practically speaking, all the chief 

 characteristics of the breed which he has selected his bidls from. If all 

 heifer calves are kept from the best milkers, and their bringing up has been 

 properly attended to, he will, in a few years, have considerably increased 

 the butter yield per head of his herd. 



Government Bulls for the use of Farmers. 



For the purpose of demonstrating this fact, and thereby educating the 

 farmers on the point, as well as, of course, to generally improve our dairy 

 stock, the Government of this State decided to import a number of cattle 

 in 1898, and lease a number of the bulls to farmers, as well as establishing 

 the stud farm where young bulls would be raised, to be sold at reasonable 

 prices afterwards to bond firh dairy farmers. At first the experiment was 

 voted as injudicious, mainly by those who were interested or prejudiced, 

 but when it was seen that the imported bulls produced an improvement 

 in the cattle with which they had been mated, the desire to lease them 

 became very strong, and, of course, only a very small percentage of those 

 making recjuest to do so could be accommodated. The result of the experi- 

 ment for education purposes, however, had been very valuable ; and instead 

 of the farmer being prepared to use the first bull that he came across, the 

 intelligent farmers now demand pure-bred animals, no matter what breed 

 thev desire, so that with this feeling abroad we are assured of a general 

 improvement in our dairy stock for some time to come. No gi'eater evidence 

 of this can be got than the fact that many of our farmers have recently 

 imported cattle from England on their own account, for the purpose of 

 breeding bulls and improving their own stock. 



Breeds of Cattle. 



We have in New South Wales all varieties of climate and soil, speaking 

 in a general way, and for this reason there is a demand for different breeds 

 of cattle suitable to the conditions under which they are required to be used. 

 We have also the different branches of dairying, viz. : — the selling of milk, 

 for consumption as milk, the manufacture of butter, the manufacture of 

 cheese, as well as in a smaller way the manufacture of condensed milk; and, 

 because of these varieties of purposes, there is a demand for special cows 

 for cheesemaki)ig, for butter-making, and for the production of milk for 

 sale as milk. Besides the well-known strain of Shorthorn already referred to, 

 we have the Ayrshire, the Jersey, the Holstein, the Guernsey, and the Kerry 

 now established in this State. 



