HERD TESTING.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3, 30 April 1912, Page 6

HERD TESTING.

RECORD OF PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE. In the Journal of the Department of Agriculture for February, Mr MePhillips, one of Manaia’s prominent dairy farmers, contributes an article under the above heading that is both interesting and practical. He writes : I started testing my herd when tin Dairy Division of the Agricultural Department opened the Cow-testing Association at Kaupokonui at the beginning of the season a year ago. At the end of the season I was surprised to find how little I knew about my most profitable cows. This was illustrated by a choice of my eight best cows which I made at the Department’s request at the beginning of the first testing season. 1 picked good cows, but not the best, as oik of the eight I picked gave only 2301 b? of butterfat for the season; and yet I had in my herd sixty-two cows which gave over this quantity. One con in the herd was not selected, although up to the end of the season (July) she was the best cow in the herd and produced over 5071 b of butterfat.-.

The records of 17 cows showed an average of 99071 b milk, which: gave 417.691 b butterfat. Again, the figures for 17 cows culled out as the result of the testing gave an average of 52901 b of milk, equal to 182.821 b butterfat.

The average yield of seventeen best cows was 99071 b of milk, 4181 b fat; the average yield of seventeen cull cows was 52901 b of milk and 18311) of fat; the average of the herd of 117 cows and heifers was 76471 b of milk and 2951 b of fat; the average of the herd (without those culled out) was 80641 b milk and 3151 b of fat.

A point to which I wish to draw attention is this: for years I have been milking some cows which, as the result v of -testing, have now been culled out. Had I had my herd tested seven years ago and culled out these seventeen cows and replaced them with others equal to the average of rny herd, my saving would be figured somewhat as follows: —The average cow without the culls gave 3151 b fat; the average cow of those culled gave 1831 b fat; the difference is 1321 b fat per cow for one year. For seventeen cows for one year this loss of butterfat would amount to 2244.1 b, which, at an average price of Is per pound, equals £122 4s. For seven years it would amount to £785 Bs. Supposing that to do the weighing and sampling I had even engaged an extra man at 10s per day for two days pci' month for ton months in the year, the cost would have amounted to only £lO. The information gained would have been worth to me £IOO per annum. I consider the production of our average cow in New Zealand is very low at present. Dairy farmers, bytesting their herds and finding out their best cows (and they can only be found by testing), can improve their herds by rearing the heifer calves from those best cows. It is just as essential, though, that we should have some record on the male’s side; in fact, my experience has been that it is more essential that the sire should bo of good dairy strain. Show cattle arc perhaps right enough in their way, but I have little time for them excepting when backed up with records of milk and butterfat production of themselves or their nearest of kin. I think too mnch attention has been given in the past to show points, and not sufficient to milk records; and it is only by records that we can get at the milking "Strain. We cannot expect to get a thrush from a blackbird’s nest.