January, 1910.] 



43 



Live Stock, 



its own supply of cattle of the type 

 desired. All the offspring, male and 

 female, could be trained for draught 

 except a few of the best of the females, 

 which should from time to time be 

 selected for breeders. The males which 

 have been bred in the herd should not 

 be used as sires in the same herd, nor 

 should the same sire stand at the head 

 of a herd for more than three or four 

 years at a time, except for the strength- 

 ening of certain especially desirable 

 characters, and then care should be 

 exercised not to weaken the animals in 

 some other particular. The strength of 

 the herd should be kept up by the 

 periodical introduction of strong young 

 males from other herds, whose animals 

 possess in a marked degree the desired 

 qualities. For general estate purposes, 

 the Indian breeds of cattle, the Zebu 

 and the Mysore, are especially adapted, 

 since they are capable of making their 

 greatest development, and of maintain- 

 ing good health and vigour under the 

 peculiar conditions of a tropical climate. 

 They also provide the necessary size and 

 weight for draught animals, and often 

 develop good milking qualities. 



It is well known that certain breeds 

 are well established as beef, and others 

 as dairy, animals. Under conditions of 

 intensive agriculture, these two types 

 are kept separate, for it has been found 

 that the best beef animals are not often 

 profitable for dairy purposes, and that 

 the best dairy animals are not usually 

 suitable for beef production. Many of 

 these breeds have been introduced 

 during past years, and cows possessing 

 some of their characters in a marked 

 degree may be easily recognised. 



Dairymen find that, in addition to 

 maintaining the desired breed characters, 

 it is also necessary always to select for 

 individual characteristics. The pro- 

 duction of milk and butter is often an 

 individual character, that is to say, the 

 variation in these points is often greater 

 between individuals of the same breed 

 than between individuals of different 

 breeds. The ability to produce large 

 quantities of milk, or milk containing a 

 nigh percentage of butter fat, is a 

 characteristic which has relation to 

 breed. 



The amount of milk produced by any 

 individual cow may be greatly varied 

 by the quantity and quality of the food ; 

 but the quality of the milk, that is to 

 say the percentage of butter fat, can- 

 not be changed. It is a characteristic 

 of the individual. The amount of but- 

 ter produced by a cow may be increased 

 by care and good feeding, but the 

 increase in butter is a result of an 



increased flow of milk, and not of a 

 change in the quality of the milk. The 

 appearance of the dairy cow should be 

 an indication of her milk-producing 

 abilities, in the same way as the appear- 

 ance of others would indicate their suit- 

 ability for draught and beef animals. 



A dairy cow should be able to convert 

 food into milk and butter to the best 

 possible advantage, while the beef 

 animal should produce tender flesh, and 

 the draught animal bone and muscle. 

 It is obviously unwise to expect that 

 the machinery — if the digestive and 

 secretory organs of the cow may be so 

 designated— which has for its object the 

 conversion of food into milk should be 

 expected to manufacture beef or muscle 

 to the best advantage. 



With regard to the qualities required 

 on any given estate in the animals 

 maintained for draught, the peculiar 

 conditions on the estate should govern 

 the selection. The size will naturally 

 vary with the nature of the hauls ; long 

 pulls in which short, steep hills occur 

 often are much better managed by com- 

 paratively small, wiry, nervous cattle, 

 while long pulls on level ground and 

 rough roads are often better done by 

 heavier cattle with less nervous de- 

 velopment. These are all points that 

 should engage the attention of the 

 estate owner, manager, or attorney. 



More attention has been paid to selec- 

 tion in the breeding of horses than in 

 that of cattle. Animals are chosen, 

 because of their qualities, to produce off- 

 spring which should have all the desir- 

 able ones of the parents, possibly with 

 some of them improved upon, or intensi- 

 fied. 



The production of mules in the West 

 Indies has not been accompanied by any 

 systematic process of selection. Excel- 

 lent sires have been imported, aud when 

 the limited number of mares available 

 for this purpose is considered, it would 

 seem that this is all that can be done. 

 Much might be accomplished by selec- 

 tion in the matter of obtaining a better 

 class of estate donkeys. 



During the last few years a very 

 considerable improvement in the local 

 animals has resulted from the introduc- 

 tion of good sheep and goats. Many of 

 these pure-bred and half-bred animals 

 are not on estates, but it is within the 

 province of the estate to make the most 

 of the improved strains, and by weeding 

 out undesirable animals and allowing 

 those to reproduce in which desired 

 characters are evident, to maintain a 

 steady improvement. Rabbits, hares 

 and poultry may all be improved by 

 similar means. 



