COW-TESTING AND EASY MONEY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 126, 29 December 1915, Page 4

COW-TESTING AND EASY MONEY.

(From the N.Z. Dairyman.)

Of course, every farimr knows all about cow-testing; he has heard about it day after day, and year after year- in fact, since he commenced keeping a herd. But aB far as most of them are concerned, "cow-testii:g" might just as well be buried with the proverbi3l "pot if gold at the foot of the rainbow." He thinks that it would be a terrible waste of time to look for it, but would'nt it be lovely to find both ot them? With the testing comes the pot of gold. Thirty years ago, when the farmers wife made her own butter, and sulci it to the lceal storekeepe', sting was not sa necessary, but as the number of creameries and cheese fact'ries increased, and farmers became to a large extent suppliers of o.ie or the other of theße, a system of equitable paymen for milk or cream delivered became a vital question.

Suppliers used to be paid by the milk-measure, but since water tDtered into the question to too great an extsnt the method of paying for butterfat wss adopted. A dairyman could also increase his milk poundage by introducing tha pump, tut now his task is to increase his buttefat percentage, and (he only solution to this problem is cow testing. Ths small farmer says: "Yes, that kind of thing is all right for the dairyman with plenty ot monev." But how did he get that money? The answer is thi same: "Cow testing." Testing is not expensive if the farmer goes about it in the rignt way. All he has to do is this: Each day, as he takes his milk to the factory, let him also t ke samples of milk drawn from one or t*o of His cows, and bottled aepintily, and 1 t him arrange with his factory managtr to have thtm tested. He should be able to g> t this dosie for about 3d for each test, and if his herd cumbers 40 the whole cost would only be 10s. What iB 10s, anyway, when it meacß £2O in the long tun? Well, the next things for him to do would be to keep a tabulated card, with columns for the con's rumber, weight of milk, test per cent, and date of test, and to till the card in when the results of tests come in.

He can have as many test) as he likes to pay tor—the more the better, for he can then ttrike a good average for each cow, and at the end of the eeasoii he has merely to look down the lists and pick out those cows that cannot give above 2401bs of fat, or even 2501b?, for the Whole season and get rid of them right away. Let him fatten them up and sell them now. He can get £8 to £lO for fat cows, and if he has culled, Bay, eight out of his 40 that will bring him in £65 to £7O, with which amount he may purchase three good cows. That is the way to start cow testing. Every good farmer starts in that way, slowly at first, gradually buying and culling, until he would not look at a cow that gave him less than 2401bs for the season. Buy a butUrtat breed, and watch the money roll in! The following is a list of the four best known dairy breeds, vrith their average testsJersey breed, 4.5 to 5 per cent fat. Guernsey breed, 4 to 4.5 per cent fat. Hols'.ein breed, 4 to 4.5 per cent fat. Ayrshire breed, 4 oer ctnt tat. From these figures the farmer can see that there ia plenty of choice, and even though the Holstein can give its 12,0'JOlba ct milk a season, I would advise him to put his money od the Jersey, for beyond a doubt she is ths moat economical producer of butterfat.

Why a farmer will persißt,in feeding a pcor cow, when he can feed a goad cow for the same money, beats me.

D:zens of farmers averaged 3001bs of butterfat last season, and many of them received Is 6d per lb at the factories for it. That works out at £22 a cew, which is not bad, is it '{ Tou can all do thi9.

Get iid of the waßtero, and buy a couple of these k22 cows, ao that eventually with 20 such, you can live well on £4OO a year. One last word to the small farmer. Arrange with your factory manager to-day to do your tes'.ng —h2 keeps a man specially fur this work—and finally clean out your herd. Fatten the poor cows. Now iB the golden oppoitunity, for never before have tat coks been worth so much money. Test the good cons, and the difference in ycur cheque will astonish you. The old way will make you laugh. Cow testing knocks it Billy. The most ignorant man in the woild is he who will not learn, and in the dairy business he is going to be left behind.