WEIGHING v. GUESSWORK.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 462, 12 April 1890, Page 2

WEIGHING v. GUESSWORK.

A paper presented to visitors to an* agricultural show in England gives a stricking proof of the superiority of. the weighing machine to the beat- of-- estimatesin determining the weigh to/ cattle. Eight Hereford bullocks, subject of feeding experiments carried oat last winter, the results of which have not yet been* published, were placed before five ex-, perienced agriculturists, some of. whom, at least, pride themselves upon their judgment in estimating the weights ofcattle, and each gentleman put down the. carcase weight which he assigned to each, animal. The cattle were afterwards, weighed alive and dead, and thp actual weights are compared with tfie several guesses. The nam,es of the. estimators gre mercifully withheld, as only one oftfie five was within 20 stonesi (of 81bs) t iu his total for the eight animals, while another was 67 stones short of the. actual aggregate weight, all the estimates being below the mark. Even the most successful judge was wrong to. the. extent of £ stones with one bufioclc and 10 stones, with another. If tb? beasts, had been sold at 4s Sd a stone, a,nd at. the carcase weights put upon them by th? several estimators, the losses on the. eight bullocks would have ranged fn>m 16s lid to Ll 5 15s 7d, and over Li esqh of the intervening cases,