June 17, 2005

cowed down

dok c spricht mit pizzash
dharmendra quotes ogden nash
but arty of bee ilk
knows not enough about milk
........................and how
to get it from the end of a cow

(see comments on previous posts to make some, but not much sense of this)

while on the bovine theme, i've noticed the streetcows in bangalore are of a different breed from the ones in pune. they look rather jersey. plump. not emaciated and unable to star in the opening shots of a foreign news channels reporting on india. i'd herd they were importing and crossbreeding, but to what extent? i've hardly seen the desi zebu at all. and they're known for their hardiness. what happens to in situ conservation of local genetic resources?

just read up a bit to clarify the difference between zebu, brahman and chicago bulls. my (possibly innacurate internet based) sources tell me that the zebu was crossbred in the u.s. to get the brahman variety. thereafter it was crossbred vigorously to get us
brahman + angus = brangus
brahman + shorthorn + hereford= beefmaster
brahman + shorthorn = Santa Gertrudis

beefmaster meets santa gertrudis in madison square garden tonight
but i'd rather watch some udder stuff.

5 comments:

Maya said...

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon
The little dog laughed to see such sport
And the dish ran away with the spoon

How's my tuppenny bit of portry? Well, at least it features cows too.

I have decided to stop by friends' blogs now and then - surprise!
Aarti, if that is you, howdy!!

P.S: This is Maya - in case you folks didn't guess...

Anonymous said...

Not really your tuppenny of portry, is it? It goes back two centuries, if not more.

Anonymous said...

hey diddle to you too maya, I thought your id looked familiar.
Thanks for the cow thesis Ira. I feel strongly about this bovine gene pool thing especially after I visited Chennai last February and realized how much more gorgeous the cows were in comparison (I don't what kind they are). There was one especially, just before you turn the corner to my granma's house. Blue and red horns, with bells ofcourse (I always tend to feel under-dressed in Chennai). Nice normal sized (hormone free)udder, heavy lashes lined her limpid eyes. (okay, maybe I'm getting a bit carried away). But, the reason I think of this cow is I saw a presentation the next day by this agricultural professor-type who's getting a grant from the World Bank to modernize the small dairies- or rather hormonize the dairy. Yes its scary. Time for a social mooooment...

Orcaella brevirostris said...

art, its not just that the desi cows are picturesquer - def better bone structure- than their plump imported counterparts. nor is it that they pump em with recombinant bovine growth hormone that is def bad for the cow and could be bad for humans.. but the genetic pool will dwindle away if we artificially select cross breeds only.

sidelight 1- michael pollan's book - botany of desire talks of how it's a two way street. we select and modify plants for certain qualities.. are they adapting so as to be selected by us?

sidelight2- hiya maya! i've been taped as a lisping two year old, singing the hey diddle song. moment of glory at the end , when the dish ran away with the 'pooon
how cute was i?
(whooshing sound of tens of readers barfing and leaving)

Eat More Beef said...

Put this bull with your cow!!! What A Beefmaster Bull!!