COW TESTING

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 288, 24 August 1918, Page 10

COW TESTING

' ' ; VEIIY SATISFACTORY RESULTS. '■ The great benefits of cow-tcsting wero referred to oy the Hon. D. H. Guthrie, ' ' rvlinister of Lands, when ho was speaking | to the fannor-owners of the Cheltenham 1 dairy factory a couple of days ago. . Air. Guthrie said that the factory had ■lad its hard times in the twenty-iive years of its existence, but when they «dopted tho home separator system they ; ; ,ivent on to success. The farmers also mado considerable progress when they formed their cow-testing association, and had their tests mado under Government : supervision. The result had been that the yield of the herd 9 supplying the fac ' . tory had been raised to 2G0.731b. of buti . ter-fat per year, while tho average for the whole colony, over the 760,108 cows ; that wero being milked, was IGOlb. of but- ' ter-fat per year. This showed that the i ; Cheltenham herds were practically 1001b.- ' .per cow above the yearly average for tho whole country. Were New Zealand production to bo raised to the Cheltenham , average it would mean an additional return to the Dominion, at present prices, | of five and .a half millions per annum. . • Mr. Guthrie said that in these times such an addition to our income would be very welcome.