FIRST CENTURY OF DAIRYING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



Guernsey, Ayrshire, Argyleshire, and Kerry. Hach breed had its 

 advocates in the colony as on their native heaths, and were kept pure 

 or judiciously crossed lor whatever purpose they were required. In 

 other and probably mjre numerous instances these breeds were al- 

 lowed to mix together indiscriminately. But k' our memories servo 

 us rightly they weie all good milkers. In our boyhood days we have 

 seen what would pass for representatives of all those breeds in one 

 dairy herd of seventy or one hundred head. As years rolled on many 

 of these breeds seemed to have dropped out of existence, and it now 

 seems like so much waste time to follow them to their graves ; nor 

 could any tangible reason be assigned for the dispersal of m my o-f 

 these breeds of cattle, valuable as they have been in Xew South 

 Wales, outside that already given to wit, the beef craze. 



The writer would not be in a position to-day to even state with 

 any degree of certainty anything regarding these discarded (if we 

 dare say it) breeds of cattle that obtained in the past, and from which 

 undoubtedly sprung our best types of dairy cattle were it 

 not -for the records that have been kept of the transactions of our 

 pioneer settlers, and the many statements that have been co.lected 

 from the sons of those old pioneers who were the cowboys of the 

 thirties and forties. The writer has spent twenty-rive years collecting 

 information from the old pioneers and their sons who carried on 

 dairying and the milking of cows during the years 1835-65, and the 

 general opinion of all those settlers throughout the counties just 

 named is that, with -few exceptions, all the breeds of cattle during 

 those years were capable of giving up to the dairymen the very best 

 milking cows, some herds, of course, being much more prized than 

 others for giving good returns under all conditions. 



No doubt many would account for the passing out, in the sixties, 

 of such a number of valuable breeds of cattle without leaving many of 

 their descendants behind, to the law of absorption or that o-t the 

 survival of the fittest. Be that as it may, one is quite safe in stating 

 that, at the beginning of the sixties, the Red Lincoln, the polled 

 Suffolk, and Norfolk, the Longhorns, the Holderness, the Pembroke, 

 the Guernsey, the Jersey, and Normanby, &c., had all ceased to be 

 considered breeds of cattle in New South Wales ; ana the breeds that 

 survived and became generally recognised throughout the colony were 

 the Shdrthorn, the Hereford, the Devon, the Ayrshire, Argy eshire. 

 and polled Scotch breeds, the Friesian or magpie cattle and their 

 numerous crosses. Some of the breeds that ceased to be recognised 

 simply passed out -tor the want of admirers, such as the Longhorn-. 

 Holderness, Pembroke, Suffolk, fand Norfolk polled ; and their places 

 were taken up by the Shorthorn and Red Lincoln ; the Normandy and 

 Ayrshire took the place of the Alderneys, Jerseys, and Guernseys, &c 

 The Herefords, Devons, and black Scotch cattle, taking the fancy of 

 the beef-raisers, were soon discarded for the dairy. Later on the 

 Shorthorn absorbed the Lincoln reds, and the Ayrshire absorbed the 

 Normandy, leaving the dairymen to choose between the Shorthorn, 

 Ayrshire, and Friesian. 



Few, unfortunately, of our early dairymen studied purity of blood ; 

 the majority of dairymen did not bother about purity so long as a 

 cow gave plenty of milk, and Depended largely on those who had 

 large herds of cattle to supply^ithcm from time to time with bulls 

 This system of keeping up the bull supply had manv advantages, ^in- 

 asmuch as the larger breeders had better opportunities of 'selecting 

 good sires and dams from which to breed bulls ; and, .further, the 

 smaller dairymen, not being so much interested in bull as in COW 

 breeding, used to borrow and lend bulls to each other freely. There- 

 fore, when a jro-td bull came into a locality he was not so liable to In- 

 destroyed as in later years, but would be passed on from farm to farm 

 until six or more dairymen would have practically the same blood 

 dibM/minaied through their herds. The strain of this bull (if good) 

 would be sought out, and more bulls would be obtained from the 



98. 



