HERD TESTIMG.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1759, 26 May 1913, Page 8

HERD TESTIMG.

DAIRY COMMISSIONER'S VIEWS. The Chief of the Dairy Division of tlio Department of Agriculture, Mr. D. Cuddie, gave an interesting address upon the dairying industry nt the Canterbury .Provincial Conference of the New Zealand farmers' Union. Jlr. Cuddie paid particular attention to the matter of herd testing. Ho said that the A. and P. Societies of Nlsw Zealand were to be credited with valuable cffoits to improve tho breed of dairy cattle, and many of the societies set aside special classes for dairy-, cattle and made them a feature of tho show. Then, again, many societies had made efforts to create more interest in tho important subject of testing the milking cattle. Tho competitions established at some shows were good, as far as they went, but the short period over which the test was made militated against its real usefulness, and some inaccurato results were recorded. Where accurate results were desired, tho only plan was to test over a whole milking period, and then the real value of a cow or a herd was discovered. Under proper control, cow testing was a sure and certain way of ascertaining the actual worth of an animal. It was a little less than four years ago that' the system of. herd testing ivas established in New 'Zealand, and iu flic initial year 815 caws were tested. The practice had grown so much in tho North Island that last Mason 25,000 cows were tested, this including cows in associations controlled by farmers themselves, as : well as associations conducted by the Government. Last season he persuaded the owner of 500 cows in the Tai Tapu district to start herd testing, and the scheme had been attended with much success, and many of the cows had put up really good records. Tai Tapu had tho honour of being the first association in Canterbury, and he hoped to see others in active operation from tta ■beginning of next season. An association was started in Otago two years ago, but ho was sorry to say it had not received support, though the Government had carri«f"Out the work practically free of charge: The speaker dwelt upon the great economic importance of herd testing to tho farnfer, for by it he could select his best, cows .for breeding purposes. Showing the wide variations that can occul in herds, he quoted the following figures: Days Average lbs. Value Herd, in mi'lb. butter-fat. at Is. lb. £ s.d. No i 218 253.78 12 13 9 No. 2 217 148.16 7 _8 2 Tho difference being no Less than. .£5 ss.

The variations were wider still when s individual coivs were taken. A member t; of one association, for instance, proved f< a cow Which had riran 311.651b. butter-fat « in 186 days, and also one which gave only £ 186.991b. butter-fat in 182 days. Another t , had a cow which gavo 4091b. fat in 269 n jays, while another cow had only given f, 222.851b. fat in 270 days. The difference b in value of these cows needed no dwelling s upon. That farmers could rapidly improve « the yield of their herds was proved by £ the -following figures:— \ Average. Average. Value of f Ist year. 2nd year, increase. j 1 lbs. fat.' • lbs. fat. -E 5. d. J (V) ....... 195.37 255.13 219 9 i (1 205.32 243.42 118 1 j, (3) ....... 209.49 257.38 2 710 1 The cost of testing was not high, and c some of the larger associations in the north wore being run at a cots of 2s. per 1 cow per annum, including everything, so c tho expenso could not bo quoted as an J argument against the system. ' E fir. Cuddle, after remarking upon the j importance of the uso of purebred sires, l pointed out that the official testin" of a J breed provided an aid, a most valuable 5 aid, to tho personal} udgment of a buyer, j If sellers of stock had authentic records jj oft,the. yields of their cattle, they nlso 1 would find it an aid to the sale ot their c stock. The Jersey and Holstein Breed As- 1 sociations had already gono in for S:nii- s official tests, only cows entered in the < herd books being eligible. Tho rules gov- < erning the test were v£ry strict, and quite j authentic. For Holstein, and Jerseys, the c standards had been set as follows:— • , 1 lbs. c Butter-fat. t Two-year-old and under 240.5 ® Three-year-old 277 p Four-yiEar-old ' 313.5 Mature cows 35" 1 Though these breeders paid a substau- ' tial fee for all cows placed u.nder tho olli- * cial test, a total of 319 cows had been en- j tcred' since tho scheme was started in t July, 1912. ;