HERD TESTING

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8357, 18 February 1913, Page 2

HERD TESTING

FIGURES THAT SPEAK, The official returns from the Government herd-test at the Kaupokonui factory for the month of December have just come to hand and will doubtless prove of interest to many readers. There are 227 suppliers to the Kaupokonui factory, and of these 85 belong to the herd-testing association, or, more correctly, there are 85 herds being regularly tested by the Government official there. 'These 85 herds comprise 8739 cows. The average per tow of all these for the month of December was as follows: Milk, 9411 b; test, 3.79; butter-fat, 35.75. The individual cow showing the best result gave 14101 b of milk at a 5.0 test, producing 78.961 bof butter-fat. At Is per lb for butter-fat this cow earned for the month £3 19s. The poorest of the 3739 cows tested gave 2851 b of milk, 2.6 test, and 7.41 b of butter-fat. She earned, therefore, only 7s 6d. The highest average for one herd was 1125 lb of milk per cow, 4.7 test, and 52.93 lb butter-fat. This works out at £2 13s per cow for the month. The lowest herd averaged, per cow, 8191 b milk, 3.20 test, 26.251 b of butter-tat, equalling £1 Cs per head. The following table shows tho averages of the liighest 21 herds and the lowest 21. This embraces fust, half, practically, of the total herds being tested. The remaining 43 herds averaged between' the 32.45 mark and the 38 mark. An analysis of tho tabulated returns of the twenty-one best herds shows that tho average of tho five best herds was 47.28 and the average of the lowest five 28.05. Tho best ten herds averaged 44.79, and tho lowest ten 29.02. Tho actual number of cows in ton lowest herds was 406; at an average of 29.03 they produced 11,7821 b of butter-fat valued' at £589 2a. The actual number of cows in the highest ten herds was 337, which, at an average of 44.77, produced 15,0941 b of but-ter-fat valued at £764 14s._ This represents a difference of £165 12s, with 69 less cows. Had there been 406 cows in the first ten herds —the same number as in the last ten and their average remained at 44.79, they would* have earned £909 4s, as against £589 2s earned by tho lowest ten herds. This amply demonstrates what improvement there yet remains to be made in tho majority of herds, and of the advisability of systematic testing. In Hlio general interest of tho district wo hope to see very soon the whole of the cows in South Taranaki in the various, herd-testing associations and thorough testing systematically carried on.