THE DAIRY.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 24 April 1914, Page 7

THE DAIRY.

QUESTION OF TESTING,

A STARTLING HYPOTHESIS

At this time when farm jrs are turning their attention towards champion cows, prize bulls, record yields, butter-fat competitions, nnd the rest, we are glad to publish from an authoritative source two sets oi figures, which teach a lesson thai must be driven home to the unprogressive farmer (says an exchange). The figures in question are taken from the records of the Midhirst Cow-Testing Association, and refer tc the yields for a thirty-day period, oi the ten best and the ten worst cows among the herds of the Association's members. It does not follow, though it is quite probable, that some of the "scrubbers" and the "breadwinners" are to be found together grazing oe the same farm. Take a hypothetical case and imagine two farms, side by side, on, say the Salisbury Road, and suppose that Mr. A., the owner of one farm : has all the good oows, and Mr. 8., his neighbour, all the wasters. A has realised that with a poor cow the doctrine of "as ye sow, so shal' ye reap" cannot be interpreted toe literally. He knows that no mattei how good the feed or how energetic his efforts, the "scrubber" will nol respond. But he also knows that th< goad cow will repay him for all his efforts ; the more he puts in the mon he gats out. Knowing all this, h< has tested his cows, applied th< knowledge he has learnt, procured £ purebred , bull of a good milking strain, and built up a really goot herd. Allowing that his ten averagi cows are the best ten in the Mid hirst Association, then for the thirty day period, his ten cows have pro duced 13,6121t. of milk, which at £ test of 4.32 made 588.06 It), of butter fat, giving at 1/- a pound a choqiii of £29/8/- for the month. On this basis Mr. A. is getting from hi; fifty cows the handsome little che^ui of £147. His neighbour, Mr. B, ha: an equal number of cows, equally good grazing, works equally hard but is not equally progressive. Th methods of his great-grandfather ari good enough for him. He judges hi: cows by the quantity of milk the? stream into the bucket, and theii general appearance, and has neve: heard of .wolves in sheep's clothing What is the result ? Let his ten average cows be the worst ten cowi of the Midhirst Association's herds and these are the figures that greei him :— 3847 Ib. of milk, 3.36 test, 129.51 It butter-fat, at 1/- a pound—£,6/9/His fifty cows swell the cheqTie t( approximately £32. Carry the fig ures on a step further, a nd on a gen eral average it will be seen that fo: the'milking season A's cheque will b' somewhere in the neighbourhood o £900, but B. will only receive £225. The comparison is, of course, madi the most of ; the hypothetical cases while not impossible, are improbable because it is unlikely that any oni farmer would be so foolish or unfor tunate to possess fifty cows as bac as Midhirst\s ten worst. Because oni side of the picture depicts ignoranci and stupidity at its worst, the les son should be none the less beneficia or the remedy the less obvious.