FIRST CENTURY OF DAIRYING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



sity for improvement in the breeding of dairy cattle, which to a great 

 extent is utterly neglected in the colony (vide ' Sydney Mail' of De- 

 cember ist). I beg to hand you the following information, which may 

 by you be deemed worthy of mention in your journal : 



"I have recently purchased from Mr. Edward Larkin, of Windmill 

 Hill, near Appin, a purebred Jersey bull, one only of three pure Jersey 

 bulls in New South Wales; also a pure Alderney cow, which has 

 visited the pure imported Jersey bull Sir John. On separate slip 

 I send you copy of the pedigree of my bull, whose half-brother was 

 sold at Exhibition to Mr. John Farraher, of Kiama, for fifty guineas, 

 and who, with my animal and their imported sire Sir John, compose 

 the only trio oi purebred Jersey bulls in New South Wale>. It is 

 my intention to cross a few of my own picked cows with the Jersey,, 

 and next year I may offer his services to the public. Garden Hill, 

 3/12/77- 



" Copy of pedigree of purebred Jersey bull ' Tricolor' : Trico-or, 

 a striped bull, calved June, 1876. Sire, the .pure imported Jersey bull 

 Sir John, who took first prize at Sydney Exhibition 1875, and was 

 bred by the Hon. John Baker, Port Adelaide, South Australia, from 

 the choicest animals obtainable in Jersey. Sir John is the only pure 

 imported Jersey in New South Wales, and is the property of Edward 

 Larkin, Esq. Tricolor's dam, Agnes, a pure imported prize Jersey 

 cow, was also bred by Hon. John Baker." 



"Copy of purebred Alderney cow's pedigree : ' Fancy Fanny/ 

 light red, 4 years old, by pure Alderney bull, bred by J. D V. Lamb 

 Esq., dam Beauty, a pure Alderney cow. (Signed) E. Larkin." 



At the time of Mr. Farraher's sale Mr. WiUiam Grey, of Kiama, 

 was using a Noble Arthur bull (which cost him 130) in his nerd, 

 but he fancied a calf that was just dropped the day el the saic and 

 purchased it. It was by the Jersey bull, and its dam was an Ayrshire 

 Shorthorn cow. The Noble Arthur bull's stock were rank failures in 

 the milk bail ; the only milk those animals ever possessed was put 

 into them through their mouth when calves. In due course this 

 crossbred calf grew up, and although Mr. Grey gave lur i for mm, 

 he got, when mated with the ordinary dairy cattle of the district, 

 some of the finest specimens of dairy cattle to be seen, the descenoants 

 of which could easily be traced for nearly twenty years since that 

 date. 



This is by no means a singular instance in the history of dairying- 

 where it can be shown that a bull, with two or more crosses of blood 

 in his veins, has produced very excellent and lasting results, espe- 

 cially when the sire and dam of such an animal has been bred essen- 

 tially for the same identical purpose, to wit, the dairy. 



The Jersey cattle as a breed never obtained a hold in the Illawarra 

 district. No sooner, however, had the " Luicus" blood made its ap- 

 pearance in the Bega district, under the control of that champion 

 breeder, Mr. John Farraher, of Candelo, than it caught on with the 

 dairy farmers, and in a few years the Jersey breed of cattle obtained 

 a firm and lasting hold in that great dairying centre. 



It must not be forgotten, however, the part played by the Moruya. 

 Bega, and Twofold settlers in connection with the introduction of 

 beef Shorthorns and Ayrshire cattle during the period under review. 

 As a writer puts it : " One cannot help noticing the great number of 

 fashionably-bred bulls some of aristocratic lineage all of breeds 

 that are to be seen in the southern districts." 



In the SepR-niber of 1870, Mr. John Ru ell, of Croome, Illawarra, 

 purchased in Sydney four tWO-year-old bull-, vix... ' Defiance," bred 

 by Messrs. Barnes & Sn-ith. Dyraaba. Richmond River, by Frank 



70. 



