BEST DAIRY COW?

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1607, 26 November 1912, Page 8

BEST DAIRY COW?

BUTTER-PAT COMPETITIONS. ' ' A TWELVE-MONTHS' TEST PROPOSED. The.-secretary of the Wairarapa anil East Coast P. and A. Society (ill'. H. S. Moss) lias forwarded details of an important movement in the W airarapa for tlie institution of a twelve-months' butterfat competition. Of lato.many euggestioM have been put forward as a means of . solving the much-debated problem of what is the most profitable cow to the ordinary dairy farmer. Eventually a proposal was offered for consideration at a meeting of a special eommittee of. the Wairarapa A. and P. Society. . The chair was occupied by Mr. E. Eagle, jnnr. Mr. C. E. C'ormack moved as follows:— 1. That a provisional committee, consisting of Messrs. W. C. Buchanan, M.P., H. E. Bunny, W. Howard Booth, AV; Henry Booth, W. 0. Bayliss, E. EagJe, junr., A. Gallon, D. Graham, J. Moncrieff, and C. Morgan, with power to add to their number, lie appointed to discuss and report to the general committee of tho Wairarapa P. and A. Society the advisability of holding a milking competition for purebred dairy cows for a period of, say, twelve months, under tho auspices of the society, 'at Carterton. 2.. Competition to bo open to purebred coirs' only, any breed. 3. I'ix'the amount of entry fee for one or more cows from any breeder. i. Arrange conditions of entry and closing date of entries, also conditions under which, competitions are to be held. o. To • dicide where cows • are to be depastured, tho number of acres per cow, and the rent per acre. 6. Conditions of feed for cows. 7. To arrange for the care of animals, milking, taking of . tests, weighing each cow's milk daily, and keeping records of same. 8. Deciding if -the tests are to be made under tho supervision of Government officials, or by a person appointed by the eommittee.

9. Prizes to bo offered, and mode of procuring same. Mr. Cormack expressed the opinion that tho' competition could be successfully arranged by drawing up such rules as would prove generally acceptable to tho breeders of dairy stock, and. that by circularising owners of purebred stock, sending entry forms with conditions clearly stated, sufficient support would be forthcoming. The entries should close at such a date as would give the committee' ample time to lease a farm suitable for the competition. which should commence at the beginning of: next year's dairying season, and. to engage a man to take charge and sufficient milkers to'tend tho coins. Tho milk could .be: sent to one of. the local dairy factories, , and: the payment rcceiv'ed for same would probably bs sufficient to pay rent of farm and wages, but should there be a.surplus after paying expenses the amount could be devoted towards prize money. Bach breeder would probably enter one or more of his best cows, and the daily Record—pounds of milk and butter-fat and the ■ test—could bo published in the leading .newspapers. Mr; i Cormack urged that the competition .would bo a good thing for the. dairy farmer,' inasmuch as it would prove positively which was the best breed and tho best strain for the farmer to select from. Competitions of the. character suggested had been held in America, Canada , and Denmark, and although in tho last-named country, after seven years, they had not decided- which Was the best breed of cow for tho farmer, the competitions in America and Canada had practically decided the. question. ; "Mr. Cormack said he had gone into the financial aspect of the matter, and estimated the expenditure and receipts as follow :—Expenditure—Lease of 150 acres at JH per acre, .-5450; wages, jB300;i other charges, i£2so; total, Receipts: Entry fees, 50 cows at ..£3 per cow, MSO; Sale of milk,, allowing .£l7 per cow, ,£850; total, .£IOOO.

- Mr. Cormack said he had probably overestimated the expenditure and under-, assessed the receipts. -Mr. 'E. Eagle, junr., said two of these competitions had been conducted in America, and in addition to proving educational, had proved a great success. The principal difficulty he could see was in respect to the bulls, and lie expressed the opinion that breeders would not send cows unless, accompanied by their own particular male animal, and this could not be undertaken on the score of The various breeders' associations should be induced to take the matter up, and select. the, best cows from amongst their members' herds to compete in the competition. He-did not personally favour a competition. in which artificial feeding was permitted ; the contest should be held under ordinary' every-day conditions, and the cow that gave the greatest profit per acre was the breed of cow the dairy farmers generally wanted to' know about. Mr. H. R. Bunny thought the proposal a little ambitious at the present time, but recognised that nothing but good would result from a discussion on the subject. He thought tho principal difficulty -would bo in attracting sufficient entries, and whichever way it went it would mean the members of' the society putting their hands in their pockets. There was also much truth in Mr. Eagle's assertion regarding the bull question. Farmers who possess good cows would not feel inclined to send their best cow away for twelve months without a guarantee that she would receive proper attention and treatment, and in this connection they would have to solve another problem. Everything depended npon tho man at the head •of affairs in a competition of this description, and unless that man, or official -had tlie entire confidence of every one of the competing farmers," tho competition would bo a failure. Mr. Bunny did not favour "stall-feeding" competition?, and declared that this competition should be conducted on precisely the same lines as followed by the ordinary dairy farmer. Mr. W. C. Buchanan, M.P., said that a discussion on the subject by practical men might result in the proposal being adopted. The bull phase of the competition appeared 'to him tho most outstanding difficulty, . and unless a farmer could get the male of his choice locally it was only natural to suggest that he would not send his cow to compete. He emphasised the fact, that a thoroughly competent man would need to be appointed to conduct the competition. Although tlio dairying industry had made great strides in this country, Mr. Buchanan declared the industry was still in its infancy, and the difference between New Zealand and Canada, for instance, very great, and we were losing a vast amount of money through not having first-class cows. If the fanners of this Dominion decided to immediately increase their stock of first-class cows, and reduce their second quality stock,' they would be conferring an enormous benefit not only on themselves, but the dairying industry, generally in this country. The motion was carried. Mr. Buchanan promised to discuss the matter with the. Prime Minister, and ascertain what (if any) assistance/the Government would bo prepared lo give the movement.