__-Was_speaking last __yéar_to..a—

PAIR OF PURE- BRED YORKSHIRES

any given time;as litters come, sales are made to

These two pure-bred Yorkshire gilts are among the more than 250 Yorkshires Stirling Wlis has in his establishment at. Kingston. One or the Island's best known Yorkshire breeders, Mr. Ww illis is not sure exactly how many pigs he has at

casses.

pure bred breeders and other hogs are sold in the regular commercial outlets, He has hit as high as 95 percent Grade A carcasses

in finished car-

ROP qualifications are first requirement of breeding hogs

The development of the Island Yorkshire over more than a quarter of a century was review- ed by Harold C. Heartz, Live- | stock officer, Canada depart- |” ment of agriculture Mr. Heartz

group of ‘ellow livestock officers at a meeting in Moncton, N. B. « Mr. ~Heartz spoke —in-—part—— as follows

The program on Island swine has been characterized by con- siderable change during these last 25 years. To give the story of the present without reference to the past programs would not be showing the whole picture. In 1940, when rail grading was in- troduced on a compulsory basis for premium payments, it was de d that the seed stock on the Island was superior to what was available elsewhere. This acceptance, along with the fear of introducing diseases still un-

known in the province, was enough to convince many lead- ers in the industry here that

some kind of control was in or- | der. Briefly, it may be pointed | out that during the war years it |} was decided by the swine breed- ers to make no further importa- tions of breeding stock, and the testing of the breed of “Island” Yorkshires as the one breed — 7 adopted, was intensified ee

ROP. qualifications became >} = the ‘first requirement of all “~~ breeding. stock. The show ring beeame a secondary considera- |

tion: however, the Provincial ' cent in all phases of endeavour, Exhibition was well patronized and it became only a matter of and, in 1947, rules were adopted time until outside breeding stock by the Swine Breeders Associa- ang new breeds were introduc- tion which restricted this show | to entries “qualifying” on ROP | Tip provincial department of or their progeny. agriculture brought in breeding During those years testing in stock, including both sexes, of the province was most enthus- the large White Yorkshire breed jastically carried on with more from England to cross with Is- than 125 breeders taking part. Jand stock. ROP rest resuits Meanwhile ROP testing of swine frogn this cross were discourag- did not catch on in the other jng and left little incentive for provinces and a ready export expansion. market opened up for breeding ATTRACT INTEREST stock from Prince Edward Is- The Landrace breed introduc- land. The lead in the percentage (ed on a small scale about eight of: “A” grades was taken early years before, at which time by this province and by 1950 had drawing little attention, now be- exceeded 50 percent, while aft- gan to attract real interest. This er 10 years of rail grading, the breed has been tested intensive- Canadian average remained jy since 1960 and today 10 about stationary at approximat- breeders are on ROP and. show- ing 31-percent. ing results exceedi#f& the aver- ISLAND LEADS age of the Island Yorkshire. . The volume of testing had rea- At present, space at our 32-pen ched such a scale thaf, during test station is being used by. ap- 1950, over one-half of the sows proximately 30 Yorkshire breed- in Canada finishing tests with ers, 10 Landrace breeders and scores of 75 or over, were iM two Lacombe breeders.. As we Prince Edward Island. move towad more cross-breed- While participation in the jng in the commercial produc- show ring at the Royal Winter tion of hogs in Canada, this pro- Fair was not encouraged by the yince with three breeds now on directors of the Island program, test is in a better position than many entries were’ made in the ever before to go along with this carcass competition in-the early program. Quality as expressed 1930s, with the bulk of the. wim- in percentage of ‘A’ carcasses nings coming to the Island re- has remained at a high leve] and gion, including both the Breth- js presently holding arounti 57 our and Todd trophies. ‘Both !percent. Policies affecting swine trophies indicate supremacy im | production in the Island region

bacon side quality). as of the 1960s: However the distance from, |. Boar: bonus policy—Boars the Royal, together with the of any breed whose dams have

lack of interest on the part of | seored 75 or over on POP are the national farm—press-to-these- eligible fora _pirchase bonus of classes, were factors which re- $49. and $15 per year afterward gulted in the discontinuance of providing the boar is a proven further participation on ANY breeder at the time of first in- large scale. spection.

In 1960 the policy of our office 2 4 premium of 530 cents is be- to handle sales for breeders and jing paid to producers of wean- take orders for export was tef- ling pigs sired by a bonused minated. The other provinces, boar. Bonused boar owners were meanwhile, began testing and issued books of certificates by with their potential numbers, ex- the P.E.1. department of agri- ports from this province quickly culture in 1962, and these were fell off. Breeders now tcok a made out to sow owners at time deep breath and asked themselv- of service, the premium being es the question ; “Where do we paid by the purchaser of the go from here?’',They_ decided to weanlings. The number of boars examine some of the physical in service December 31, 1962 weaknesses which seemed to was 107. By the end of 1963, the develop along the way. Close figure had reached 183. line breeding over the years in °3. Sows financed for producers many cases resulted in lack of |by packers must be bred to bon- vigor, and weakened feet and (used boars as a matter of pack- legs. The presence of disease in er policy. Cie some sections became evident, Volume of production is ex- while most. breeders concerned pected to rise but must. be tied went along with the over-all pro- to the increase in grain produc- gram during this time. Nothing tion on Island farms. The local ig perfect or one hundred per- department of agriculture and

ce

.

*

<a

ae

+ a —~— > ~

‘HAROLD HEARTZ VIEWS PRIME EASTER BEEF |

the packers.are encouraging the production of more grain per ance and more hogs. Importa- tions of combined grains and millfeeds have declined from 35,000 tons in 1950 to 19,166 tons last year (1963).

Last year, while acreage sown to barley has been on the up from a few thousand acres in the late 1950s to 18,999 acres in 1963, this acre increase devoted to barley has been mainly at the expense of other grains, but would also seem to show a trend toward production insofar as the over-all grain yield is concerned.

CATTLE DEVELOPMENT

Mr. Heartz also talked of the development in cattle:—

Traditionally, this Island has always. been on a dairy economy insofar as our cattle industry is concerned Marketings of around 16,000 head annually to plants and yards show a quality of about five percent to six per- cent in the Choice and Good Grades, and this is an indication of the proportion of beef cattle to dairy cattle produced in this area

During 1961, the provincial de- partment of agriculture launch- ed a program with the view of changing the balance between beef and dairy cattle numbers, Meetings were held at various centres and considerable public- ity was given to this effort. Im- portations of bred heifers of beef breeds were subsidized to extent of $100 per car freight as- sistance This freight assistance then became a general policy and applied in The Tiportation of other classes of livestock, in- cluding dairy cattle and sheep.

Although the market for more beef generally and especially for carcasses in the top three grad- es is almost unlimited in this meat deficiency area of the At- lantic region, Island producers did not respond in the produc- tion of numbers and quality ex- pected. The program promoted considerable and much needed education in t production and marketing of beef, but farm size was a main factor in limiting ex- pansion of production of beef as such, as the chief source of in- come for Isiand farmers.

In 1961 there were less than 700 farms out of a total of 7,335 with 400 acres or more. There were around 3,000 farms be- tween 70 and 130 acres; 1,400 be- tween 130 and 180 acres. and be- tween the 240 and 400 acre size there were only 560 farms.

According to the census . of

the |

1951, there were slightly over 10,000 farms with generally smaller sizes than in 1961, as |the trend to larger farms be- comes evident. However, some

~of-theabandoned* farms” dir-

ing this process have not contin- ued to produce crops so we can only conclude that economic production of beef here on an | expanded basis will depend on crop yield.

| PICTURE NOT DARK

| The picture is not entirely

' | dark, since hay and pasture pro-

duction is rising and vacant farms not now producing will probably be brought into yield- ing crops as economic conditions permit. The pasture improve- ; Ment poogtantof the.P.E.1. de- partment of agriculture is show- | ing definite results. Hay tonnage — per acre lias been increasing and, despite the fact that the province is on an import basis |for grain, a cattle production ‘increase of some proportion may well become a reality.

During September of: ~ this year, a Réet Promotion’ Field- man _was appointed by the local deparienent of agriculture, a * jae emphasis now seems to”

on the elimination of the Utility ’

grades of steers. and heifers, ‘and. the production of more Standard’) and Commercial grade cattle. Less stress is placed on the marketing of Choice and Good as a profitable endeavour._ bear- ing in mind the narrow differ- ence in price between these grades and the Standard.

. The A.I. ‘program inaugurat- ed in 1956 4s contributing much to the elimination of the poorer grades of beef. Approximately oné-half of all cattle of all breeds are’ artificially imsemin- ated in this province. and around 45 percent of these are bred to beef bulls. Many of the Progeny resulting from this beef-dairy cross are ending up on the rail as Standards, while some are making the Good grade. ’

In addition to basic grants of $300 to each breed of cattle, plus $3 per calf registered in the herd book the previows-@ear, a sire purchase policy. allowing for the payment of 50 percent of ‘the purchase price on bulls up to $100, is provided by the pro- vincial department of agricul- ture. In addition to this, finan- cial assistance is given in t he purchase of special semen from selected sires for breed im- provement.

There is no participation by beef breeders here as yet on | Record of Performance. Eighty- three dairy cattle. breeders are on test, with beeds of Holstein. | Ayrshire, Guernsey, Jersey, Shorthorn and Red Poll, in that order of numbers involved.

SHEEP AND LAMBS

The Lamb Premiim_ Policy and Wool Deficiency payments are programs carried out by our department. Joint policies dy the Canada and provincial de- partment of agriculture encour- age the use of good sires. while financial aid is provided by the Jatter department in parasite control and in cases where sheep are killed by dogs. Al! the above programs have failed to halt the decline in numbers of sheep on our Island farms. Marketincs have fallen off steadily this last five years from over 12,500 in 1959 to 8.872 for last year ‘ 1963)

Lack of interest by commer- cial producers to procure grad- ed sires is demonstrated by the fact that of 62 rams graded in 1962 only 22 were purchased un- der the ram premium policy. while of the 43 rams graded in 1963, only 19 were purchased un- der the policy. This year 59 Tams were graded. the number acquired by breeders is not ‘available yet>-- - =

CREE

|eggs to. hatch. }cent in the second year and re-

!

LA POCATIEREB, Que. — Ezg production of a flock of Pilgrim geese under test at CDA's re. search station at La Pocatiere rose sharply when the birds were two years old and did not start to taper off until after age four and five.

The eggs were larger and weighed 28 per cent more in the second -year than in the first and were still heavier in the follow- ing years. The experiment was not continued beyond five years of age when it was judged that the economical life of the flock

of fertilized eggs laid, decreased with age. It was 12 per cent less in the second year, 52 per cent less in the third year 74 per cent less in the fourth fifth years than it was in first year.

—On_the_other—hand—hatchabil- ity, meaning the ‘ability of fertile increased 33 per

mained fairly constant. ‘+:

Usually, decreasing fertility and low hatchability go together but the fertility in this case

to have been influenced other than age, re- J ‘A. Antoime Lemay,

of Pilgrim neaia

poultryman at La Pocatiere.

For instance, the weight of the ganders after they were two years old. increased greatly dur- ing the winter and presumably reduced their mating urge.

The flock of 20 males and 100 females were divided into pens each occupied by qne male and five fer.ales; They remained there. from December 1 to July 15 each year. Except for the winter and the laying period the ‘entire 120 birds shared a pasture

but did not at any time have ac-,

cess*to running water or a pond. The flock received a growing ra-

th e.ction once a day while on pasture

and unlimited breeding mash while housed.

Both males and females lost some weight while on pasture but took on a lot of weight in| winter. The ganders especially | took on considerable weight. in winter and maintained it throu- gh the breeding period.

Geese are different from hens in that they perform better aft- | er_the first -year,-said— Mr.—Le-+

may. ‘Egg production and incu- bation results in the first year do, nevertheless, provide suffic- ient information for the selec- tion of breeding stock.

The La Pocatiere tests were

: Detinihiy yes, research orlicial.

Production tested | Che Guar

f

“Covers Prince Edward Island Like The. Dew”

SECTION ‘B’

FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1965

Research

aid to agriculture

Does money spent on agricul- tural research net a. worthwhile divident? ' says a CDA! And he has a billion dollars worth of evidence to support his opinion.

The official is Dr. A-E. Hap- nah, director of CDA’s Research Station at Winnipeg. It was here that the rust-resistent wheat” variety Selkirk -was developed, and introduced in 1954. a year

~when-rust-losses-were beginning +

¢ carried ot” in conjunction with |the. Animal Research Institute ‘genetics) at Ottawa.

CDA’s Publication No. 848 “Raising Geese" is available in English and French free from Information Division, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ot- tawa. i

~

provides

to reach serious proportions in Manitoba and eastern Saskatch-

ewan. : Last year, researchers grew Selkirk, the partially rust-resis-

tant Thatcher and the suscept- ible Marquis on large experi- mental plots at Winnipeg. ‘ It was, says Dr. Hannah, a poten- tially bad rust year.

The comparison tests gave a dramatic- indication of the bene- fits afforded growers by the re- sistant Selkirk and_by _re- | search. i

On the basis of an estimated © cost of operation at $20 an acre, Marquis yielded 2.6 bushels per | acre for a net loss of $15.67: Tha-~

_ tcher yielded 17.3 bushels and a

return of $9.34 an acre. Sel-

'kirk’s yield was 20.6 bushels for

a return of $15.97, Selkirk - acreage and eastern §

in Manitob: hewan am-

ARTIFICIAL BREEDING... The surest

and faster method of improving your livestock — THE ASSOCIATION re

Makes use of all the latest technical advances.

_—THE.N.B. A.1.-CO-OP----

Purchases the best available bulls and proves s their g genetic capabilities.

THE LIVESTOCK OWNER - - -

Makes use of records and plans his meetings.

Service From 7 Different Breeds

BENEFITS OF ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION

@ it will assist you in breeding more efficient and better producing cows.

° i: well tennen Win dengue of nradiiing

breeding programme.

‘of a rust-resistant variety,

PAGE 1-B -ounted to 58,368.960 for the 10 year period 1%5 to 194 At

least six of the years would have been disastrous for growers hac . it not been for the availability Dr. Hannah points out.

Using last year’s test results as a reasonably accurate gauze, Selkirk during the decade res turned $386.9 million more ta growers than they would have received from Thatcher. Com- parefi with Marquis, Selkirk benefited growers by an even

| more startling amount — about

$1.8 billion.

Only recently, the : Winnipeg

|Research Station named a new

variety — Manitou — that hag even greater resistance to rust than has Selkirk.

Dr__Hannah_ offers some more statistics:

The estimated sia. million value of Selkirk over Thatcher during the past decade is suffi-

‘cient to

Pay the cost of the Winnipeg station's 40 years of operation 13 times over or;

Pay for the operation of the entire CDA Research Branch for, 10 years.

*

Shorthorn

‘Aberdeen Angus Dual Pur-

pose Shorthorn

disease. barn. West Prince Club Eastern Prince Club New Glasgow Cleb Hilishere Club Brenden Wallace Brad. MacInnis Danny acer ae a _ Elmsdale Travellers Rest Hunter River Mt. Melhe Alberton 93-15 ; Sammerside 436-3400 Hunter River 58 Vernon River 11-116 O'Leary Cleb Kesinzion Club Cornwall Cleb ‘ Merefl Club Winfred Bridge James Heffelt Gerden Lank Garth Webster O'Leary Travellers Rest New Wiltshire Midgell O'Leary 1% Summerside 436-2715 Hunter River 34-3 Morell & Tyne Valley Clab Crapand Cleb -~- York — Montague Club Russell Dyment Nerman Lewther Liesd Vesser Lieyd MacKinnon Nertham Crapaud York Brooklyn Tyney Valley 47-12 Crapaed 22-2 Charlottetown 994-7075 Montague 838-4274 . East Kings Clab. John D. Aitken. Seuris—Seuris 30-12

LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP $5.00

YEARLY MEMBERSHIP $1.00

PEL A. 1. BREEDING ASS'N.

- BOX 3000, CHARLOTTETOWN | IN ASSOCIATION WITH N.B.AJ. CO-OP, FREDERICTON, N. B.

4

SERVICE FEE $4.00

we

af