FIRST CENTURY OF DAIRYING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



tlu-se breeds in Illawarra and Shoalluivcn, but they were interested in 

 stations jointly and severally in the Lachlan and Monaro flistricts, 

 where they could and did avail themselves of the best blood thai Eng- 

 land could produce at that period. Tln-y were in close touch with such 

 breeders as Messrs. Throsby, Shipley, and Radgery, of Bong Bong ; 

 Messrs. Royd, Hassall, and Roberts, of Braidwood ; and Messrs. Lee, 

 Mackenzie, and Icely, of the Lachlan River districts. Mr. Icely's 

 41 Comet" gave good account of himsel-f, as did his near relative 

 41 Ella," imported by Mr. Alexander Berry, of Shoalhaven. The strains 

 of these bulls were held in great favour among the dairymen for many 

 years. These breeders were mostly Longhorn-Durham fanciers. 



If we are to suggest an opinion as to the cause of the many failures 

 experienced by dairy cattle breeders throughout New South Wales, it 

 is the want of a defined system by which success could be achieved 

 by persevering along well-defined lines for a given number of years, 

 and by neglecting to utilise the great advantages of soils and variety 

 of climates so adjacent to many of our breeding centres. The soil, 

 through neglect, soon began to give out, and the heavier breeds of 

 cattle quickly began to show signs of distress. A cry was at once 

 raised against the larger breeds, and smaller breeds were either sub- 

 stituted wholly in their places or they were soon crossed out on the 

 then not understood cry of " too much in-and-in breeding" by using 

 bulls of a different type and breed. On in-and-in breeding an im- 

 portant writer says : " If there be any error in breeding in-and-in, 

 as it is called, from good animals and I con-fess I think there is it 

 can only be in carrying the practice to an extreme, or continuing to 

 breed from the closest affinities. The laws oi Nature have limits 

 which cannot be passed with impunity ; what is good in certain quan- 

 tity is not necessarily so in double that quantity. What is good in 

 moderation is invariably bad in excess. The practice of breeding from 

 animals related in blood has, in the hands of practical breeders, pro- 

 duced the happiest results, but in less judicious hands might be carried 

 too far." 



We know that gregarious animals in a state of Nature roam in 

 flocks, to which they are very jealous of admitting strangers, so that 

 the animals of each flock must be very much related in blood, such 

 as were the wild white cattle of Chillingham Park, England, and as 

 such were the wild cattle of the Cowpastures in New South Wales ; 

 yet these cattle were remarkable for their vitality and vigorous con- 

 stitutions. In reviewing the circumstances which b. ought about the 

 early developments of our dairy herds, it must not be forgotten that 

 all cattle of whatever breed were not admired if they were too white 

 about the nose, as they were considered delicate ; on the other hand, 

 cattle with snow white hair, provided their skin was yellow and their 

 nose and inside the ears was dark-colored, were considered valuable 

 for dairy purposes. 



Messrs. Throsby, Badgery, Osborne, Berry Bros., and Captain Ad 

 dison had white bulls of the description mentioned, and for a time 

 their progeny commanded good prices among the dairymen of Illa- 

 warra, and many now living can remember the progeny of one or 

 other of these white bulls. 



Speaking, however, o-f dairying as a system and the raising of stock 

 for dairy purposes only, it would be difficult indeed to state that any 

 man in those days bred or raised dairy herds on any defined lines. It 

 is even questionable whether any of the early breeders had any pre- 

 conceived ideas on the subject. The only man from whom we ever 

 got atiy notions which could be construed into a mode of procedure 

 was Mr. James McGill, whose father had been using Longhorn, Lin- 

 coln and Durham bulls from Messrs Terry-Hughes, Johnston, Os- 

 borne, and Lomax in the -forties and fifties. He brightened these 

 colors by using Lomax's Lincoln Reds, and then, as he said himself, 



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