Melody AND Milk

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 923, 17 March 1930, Page 8

Melody AND Milk

• I'idhu) his herd with radio broadcast music during milking time is- I aimed bu a well-known farmer of Wc.itakaruru. . In proof of his assertion he ca shore c drop in his factor *?/ t ceigh*s ev v Tuesday morning , corresponding irith the Auckland l *oodcost stati - a < '■ it defl on Monday —Art cs Item. IFrom Our Own Cow-rt pondent) WAIKIKAMOOKAU, Friday. JpURTHER evidence in favour of t lie construction of a special Gov-ernment-owned radio station. io broadcast exclusive cow programmes was offered today before the Royal Commission on Bovine Broadcasting, which is at present sitting in the Municipal wool-shed. Waikikamookau. Mr. Aloysius Spoffer. the first wit-

ness called. said he had had business associations with cows for 43 years, and he could vouch for their remarkable reaction to music. In support of this he would quote that fine old proverb, “Hey diddle diddle,” which proved that cows’

musical appreciation had not merely commenced with the age of radio. Witness said that he had had a radio installed in his cow-shed and all his cows fitted with ear-phones. This uad excellent lactic results until recently, when some tactless person had sung something about a Toreador. This had so upset his cows that one of them developed rabies, and badly bit a passing commercial traveller,

while the only yield he had since been able to obtain from the rest of the herd was a few small tins of condensed milk. He attributed this disaster entirely to the broadcasting station’s unfortunate choice of programme. The next witness gave his name as

John William Heffer. cow fancier. and told the Commission that man and boy he had fancied cows for 60 years. He had installed a radio in his milking-shed, but had met trouble from the programmes broadcast almost from

the start. Witness went on to say that the difficulty was that the cows liked the milking operation to keep time to the music. They would also chew the cud (n the same rhythm. This was quite satisfactory when a funeral march was being broadcast. Even a waltz could be managed at a pinch. But when things like the overture to William Tell, and Peer Gynt began to come across, witness considered it was time something w T as done to stop it. He estimated that the value of his herd had been reduced by 50 per cent, after a certain piccolo solo. Witness continued that on one occasion he had made a slight mistake in adjusting the wave length, and some morse had come through. Three of his cows had had nervous breakdowns before he could get it switched off. He considered that if a Dairy Farmers* broadcasting station was not erected, the least that could be done w T ould be the main stations to insert a milking session into their programmes. They already had a children’s hour. Why not a cow’s hour? Carefully selected slow' music could he broadcast and in between items, the announcer could moo gently and soothingly. ( Proceeding.)