Farm Notes.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4502, 11 December 1909, Page 4

Farm Notes.

TESTING DAILY HERDS. Tho importance of this practice is becoming more generally rocoguised each successive year ; but, though the necessity and advantages of such - testing of dairy-herds aro admitted by all, a very small percentage of otir dairy cows are being tested with any creditable degree of regularity. This Division has issued bulletins at intervals, dealing with thO subject, and its annual reports have frequently referred thereto, while tho necessity oi tho Department doing something which will bring the advantages of v this work more conspicuously ’before the other dairymen lias been frequent- - r-Jy poiuted out by report and letter ) during the last few years. Although as yet tho Department has not seen fit to make a rnovo in - this direction, tho necessity that some- '' thing should bo dono has become accentuated. During the year 1904-5 our exports represented approximately :f tho production of 37,1 17,920 lb. of butter-fat. This season they represent > 43,329,730 lb., an increase of 10.73 per cent. The major portion of this increase hag come about rather by an increased number of cows than by an increase in tiro production per cow. This clearly evidences the fact that, although the testing of dairy herds '■ has always been important in connection with tho development of our dairy industry, at no timo was it so imperative that something should be done in this connection as is tho case at present. Experience has proved that tho testing of herds is one of the most potent factors towards improving the production per cow, by drawing attention to tho necessity for better care, feeding and breeding. That these factors bear most forcibly on the cost of production of butter-fat is generally admitted, y and yet the one thing necessary to bring the importance of those considerations most before the eye of tho dairy public has not been forth-com-ing. Such being the case, it is surely high time that a forward movement jt was made by the Department to'y* 11^3 | initiating a movement fur Cow Icsting Associations amongst our milkjb suppliers- These associations iav< j - X passed th e experimental stage, al * c * f liavo been proved successful both in DennDrk and in Canada. New Zealand is a competitor on the British markets with both t-heso countries ; and we aro surely quite safe in following their lead in a direction which has lessened their cost of production, and therefore leaves us in a relatively weaker position to compete successfully. ANALYSIS OF BUTTED. As in former years, samples of i creamery, dairy, and milled butter cent in for export were taken by the Graders at each shipping port. The samples taken at Auckland, New Plymouth, and Patoa wero analysed for mo : sture at New Plymouth, undo.’ the direction oi the Chief Chemist. Those taken at other ports were forwarded to tho Chemical Laboratory at Wellington to bo dealt with. Altogether 1,548 samples -were tubmitted for analysis.