IMPROVEMENT OF DAIRY HERDS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2209, 23 July 1914, Page 10

IMPROVEMENT OF DAIRY HERDS

•'•;•■.- (To tho Editor.) Sir,—Another year lost, another iear with £100,000 staying in England that should bo in our dairymen's pockets; another year with oceans of generalities ; another year with a pint of practical improvement. Will it o\er end? It is, wonderful to think that with all tho gush of our dairying n dus; try, about our increased exports, so little progress is being made in getting better cows. Not 25 per cent, of cur dairy farmers are making any real effort to improve their heards with intelligence," and certainly far less arcdoing it well. Individuals in each district can. bo picked out who are improving their milk yield from £10 per cow per:annum to £15 per cow per annum, but the large majority either havo not tho'.cnergy to mako any effort, or likely enough have not the brains to do it. , - With the increased price of land, it is quite certain that many cows are not earning their propbrtion of the rent — cows that'long ago should have been killed and eaten. Till legislation is passed making improvement compulsory, one is inclined to think -that, no real progress will be made. When will our members of Parliament for dairying districts press for such legislation Y —l am, etc.. ONLOOKER.