The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY LEVISIN. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1912. HERD TESTING.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 26 November 1912, Page 2

The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY LEVISIN. TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1912. HERD TESTING.

Or late, and on several, occasions, The Chronicle lias touched upon the great importance to Horowhonua County oi' a. thorough system of testing the whole of the county's dairy herds. It- is no exaggeration to .say that many thousands of pounds sterling could be added to the earnings of tlie diairyfariners along this coast. All that is necessary for doing this is the purchase of a few inexpensive tabulated forms. Perhaps the "bulk of the dairy fanners will awaken shortly to ■the very great importance- of a systematic testing of dairy herds, but ■so far the response made to the encouraging endeavours of the New Zealand .Fanners' Union lias been disappointing. As an outside testimony to the importance of testing, some remarks in>ade very lately by the Jlaweni Star are well worthy of reprinting. The writer says that the one factor more than any other that will bring about increased productiveness is thorough and systematic cow-testing. Other things must contribute to tlio genera] result, such as artificial fertilisation of tho pastures, well-constructed and cleanly-kept milking-shods, and careful, kindly handling of the cows. But cow-testing will be the basis upon which the you oral improvement will chiefly rest; for, where it has been in operation, there has been abundant proof to justify this statement. This experience has also, apparently, disclosed the existence of many erroneous impressions; it has shown that dairy herds in future must bo built up from proved and tested individual cows, and that, so far, no particular breed can be n,amed as pre-eminently tho best. Tho little Jersey cow is generally thought of a.s a milk-producing machine, but it is said there are more poor Jersey cows—-Jersey cows giving poor results—than in any other breed in Taranaki. On tho other hand, it is a fact that there are sonic very tine Jersey cattle in this district, but just now the point we wish to make is that the fa-rmer cannot bo guided by the Pedigree Book alone in his choice of a butter-fat producing cow. It is argued that if it were made a condition that every cow taken cognisance of by the Pedigree Book authorities, had first of -ill to prove her utility as a milk or butter-fat producer, many animals would be eliminated from the lifet, and the farmer could then be guided to some extent by such a publication. But until this tost is made an absolute condition of entry, there is a great danger of useless stock securing a. footing throughout the district. It is also said that there are- somo very fhio purebred Jerseys hi Taranaki, which do not appear in the Herd Book. And so it all comes back to this: that the fanner should take every oaro to seo that the cow, no matter what breed, is first and foremost an actual record-maker before ho starts to build up hia licrd from her progeny. This is one of the groat works the cow-testing association will .accomplish, and it is through them the improvement in dairy herds will be brought about. The dairy former in tho future must watch his testing carefully, must cull and replenish with the utmost oaro, and 'Build up hie future herd from the progeny of proved cows only. Great care, too, will need to be exercised in the selection of bulls, if the best results are to he obtained. The wealth that would result froir even a moderate improvement to th .> avorage dairy herds appears incred ibfo until one reduces it to figim. ,,, but a single instance will servo I emphasise the point. The aver-

yield per cow supplying the Kaupokonui factory for a thirty day peviod ending October Gth was 32.401b of butter fat; the avcrago yield from ono particular herd supplying the same factory for tho same period was 45.76, and the millc of this herd was of course, included in the factory's , general average. Now,

f the whole of the herds had averiged 15.76, instead of 32.40, it would havo meant nearly £7,000 more in solid cash for that one "period, or on an easy estimate £50,000

a year extra to this company alone. Surely that is something worth striving; for. We. shall in future issues, revert to this important subject; in fact, we intend 1 to collect data from cow-testing records, and from prominent dairy farmers, in the hope that such informr-cion may not only- prove interesting, but will stimulate dairy farmers to put forth their host efforts to greatly improve their Lords and aim at bettor and hotter results. If any of our renders can assist us in this project wo will ho very pleased if they will communicate with us, and wo shall be only too pleased to carefully consider any .suggestions made by them. ON JOURN'ALI.SM. Yestekuay a correspondent took us to task for having published another correspondent's letter winch asked Mr Robertson, M.1 , , for this electorate, to deny an .allegation of the Foxton Herald that our member was in sympathy with the Red I'Ydoration. Our complainant correspondent, while commending our reputation for fairness, says that it " should have prevented us from ropublishing the quotation." From that we must dissent, just as strongly as wo do from the inference inndi! against Mr Robertson. We believe his mission to Hiintly and bis endeavours to maintain industrial peace , there both wore admirable, but had w<. , squelched the Shannon query regarding it we would have failed in our fluty as publicists.