508 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



April, 1914 



Liverpool & London & Glohe 



Insurance Company, Limited. 



ULAIMa PAID EXCKEU i»5,C)0u,0O(j. 

 ASSETS EXCEED £11.500, uw. 



Ail Descriptions of Insurances Undertaken 



at Lowest Current Kates. 

 FIRE (including Haystacks and Growing 

 Croijs), ACCIDENT anu DISEASE, Em- 

 ployers' Liability and Workmen's Com |>ensa- 

 tion, Fidelity Guarantee, PLaTE GLASS 



Burglary, PUBLIC KISKS. 

 Agents in all the Principal Country Towns 



ChiKF OfFICK for SoDTH AnSTEALIA — 



36, Grenfell St., Adelaide 



Tom Steele. Local Manager. 



.supplied with. feed. The economic 

 leeding oi stock can never be traced 

 to starvation methods, not in a 

 single mstance can this be attend- 

 ed with other than loss. Economic 

 feeding means liberal feeding with- 

 out waste. — " American Farmer." 



Breeding Dairy X!)ows. 



We often see farm-ers go on year 

 after year trying to inafte butter 

 from cows no better adapted to 

 that business tliau the Clydes- 

 dale is for a racehorse ; leastwise 

 they let their wives go on, that 

 bemg easier. This is generally, 

 but not always, the result of care- 

 lessness or indiUerence. Some — very 

 lew though — spend their money free- 

 ly to bring their herds up to their 

 ideal, but the nearer they get to 

 their model the further they are 

 irom getting a profitable daity 

 animal. Why ? Because they are 

 i.r_)iiig to produce a physical im- 

 possiiiility called a general purpose 

 cow. A cow that will combine in 

 one carcase all the good qualities 

 of all the different breeds irom the 

 gross plilegmatic Hereford which 

 has been bred and trained for the 

 purpose of laying on Uesh, to the 

 luglil\- organised and nervous-tem- 

 ]>cTcd .Jersey, which has been bred 

 for an entirely clillerent purpose, 

 that of giving a large How ol rich 

 milk. No amount of reasoning will 

 convince them of their error. But 

 it is noticeable that they are the 

 ones who are always grumbling 

 that dairying doesn't pay. 



Another class want a l^rge cow, 

 one that they can sell for l>eef 

 after her usefulness is over. But 

 first consider, what are you keep- 

 ing the cow for ? If for making 

 butter then you want the cow that 

 will give the largest return for 



the feed eaten. If the larger cow 

 will not make such return in pro- 

 portion to her size over the medi. 

 uin-sized one she is kept at a loss. 

 Few seem to realise that it takes 

 a certain quality of food just to 

 support the cow and keep her 

 alive. After thart; what she eats 

 goes to milk or meat. 



Now the big cow, of 1,4000 lbs. 

 live weight will require just so 

 much more food for support than 

 the medimn one of say 900 lbs. as 

 1,400 is to 900. And unless the 

 extra food eaten goes to the pro- 

 duction of butter a loss is the re- 

 sult. Keep this up lor eight or 

 ten years, and the extra 500 lbs. 

 of old cow beef will not mak-e the 

 loss good. We should first find out 

 for what purpose we want a cow, 

 and then breed the cow that comes 

 nearest to our needs, 



— Jerseys for Butter. — 



If butter is the object there is no 

 Ijreed that can approach the Jer- 

 sey in the economical production 

 of a first-class article. Why ? Be- 

 cause she is the oldest and best 

 established of all our dairy cattle, 

 having been bred pure for over 200 

 years for this very purpose. You 

 ma\- say we cannot all have pure- 

 bred Jerseys on account of their 

 high price, but you may as like 

 as not ha\e cows as good if you 

 know how. Suppose such is the 

 case, it by no means follows that 

 every dairyman cannot avail him- 

 self of this blood to improve the 

 herd he now has, as ^ oung bulls of 

 this breed can be had at prices 

 very little in ad\ aiice of the price 

 of mongrels, and by the continued 

 use of a pure-bred sire a herd of 

 common cows may in a few years 

 be brought up to a point tuat fur 

 all practical purposes will be equal 

 to pure breds. 



Thus the first progeny of such a 

 union will ha\'e 50 per cent, cf 

 pure-bred blood, the next genera- 

 tion 75 per cent., the next b/'^ per 

 cent., the fourth generation will 

 have fifteen-sixteenths or 93^ per 

 cent, of iiure blood, while the sixth 

 generation has 98 and seven-six- 

 teenths per cent, of pure blood, 

 and would be what is called a full 

 bred \ery nearly. 



— Selecting Cows. — 

 In selecting cows care should be 

 taken to get them as nearly uni- 

 form tvjre HS possible. The head 

 should be small and lean, eyes full 

 and mild, neck full and thin, shoul- 

 ders thin, backbone ])rominent and 

 open between joints, hips wide, legs 

 short and fine-boned, barrel well 

 rounded and large, deep through 



behind the shoulders to give plenty 

 of room' for heart and lungs, udder 

 large, running well forwarid and 

 back, teats rather short, but thick 

 and wide apart. Avoid tho3« 

 whose udders show a tendency to 

 collapse after being milked. The 

 skin should be soft and mellow 

 to the touch, covered witli thick, 

 soft hair. Such a cow, if weigh- 

 ing about 900 lbs., will invariably 

 have a good constitution, which is 

 indispensable, but do not mistake 

 size for constitution or a capacity 

 for daiirj' work. 



— A More Important Selection. ■ 



Having selected the best cows 

 possible for a foundation, the next 

 step is to find a bull to mate with 

 them, and it is of the utmost im- 

 portance that he should be a good 

 one, as the future herd will be 

 larg^elv composed of his blood. For 

 this reason he ought to be strong- 

 ly inJjred to great butter-produc- 

 ing cows. Examine his breeding 

 on both sides as far back as pos- 

 sible, and see that he has no taint 

 or imperfection in liSs make-up, for 

 it must be borne in mind that he 

 is quite as likely to transmit im- 

 perfections, if they exist, as good; 

 qualities, and the more prepotent' 

 he is the greater the danger. He 

 should have a good disposition. 



Alston s Patent Steel Framed 



GALVANISED STOCK TROUGH 



Will not crack, leak, rot, or rust. Packs 

 in small space. ALL LENGTHS. 



Write me your requirements. Send for 

 Catalogue. 



MILES IN USE 

 THROUGHOUT 

 AUSTRALIA 



The Best Trough ever invented. The 

 fact that other manufacturers are copy- 

 ing the Alston Patent as far as they 

 dare, is sufficient guarantee as to the 

 construction and stability of this Trough. 

 Large stocks. Immediate delivery. 



James Alston 



Patentee and 

 Manufacturer 



Queen's Bridge 

 SOUTH MELBOURNE 



loU Ac«te lor MuUi Aai*raUk_ 



H. C. RICHARDS 



« M4l I, Biyth StrMt, Ad«Uid«. 

 fati Oih«i«i M»d Co, 



