The Daily News. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1921. THE CRUX OF DAIRYING.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 September 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1921. THE CRUX OF DAIRYING.

In every business there is a certain basic principle, the rightful observance of which results in success, and the ignoring of which deprives the operator of the full reward for his labor, enterprise, and capital. It is obvious, therefore, that success in industry corresponds with the methods employed, so that, while one man becomes prosperous, another is merely a toiler who secures little more than a bare existence, yet both have equal opportunities, the difference in the respective methods accounting for the gap between the results obtained. The crux of dairying is the production of butter-fat; the greater the yield the; larger the profit. In a valuable and instructive report recently compiled by Mr. W. M. Singleton, acting-director of the Dairying Division of the Department of Agriculture, are to be found such facts and figures that no dairyman can afford to ignore, or take to heart, the more by reason of the fact that they are put forward by an acknowledged practical expert, but also because they are the result of experience which every intelligent producer can confirm. Though there is no new feature to be found in this report, it emphasises in no uncertain manner the main principles of successful dairying—the elimination of unprofitable cows, the selection of sires with a proved butter-fat record backing, and paying proper attention to the care and feeding of the herd. Only by a thorough and continuous testing of the milk produced by every cow can any reliable estimate be obtained ns to the value of the yield and of the animal as a producer. On the question of culling, Mr. Singleton has very pronounced views. He says.

“My opinion is that unless the CowTesting Association members, or dairy farmers, are inspired! through the testing of their cows to breed better animals to take the place of culls, the great lessons that cow-testing can teach are largely lost. Low producing cows should be replaced by heifers sired by purebred bulls. Herd-testing ■will show the paramount necessity that exists of selecting such a purebred bull from cows which have certificates of record of production. It is to enable farmers to obtain bulls with a butterfat record backing that has caused the Dairying Department to co-operate with breeders in the authentication of the records of production of purebred

According to Mr. Singleton, the average yield of cows under test was 206.421bs of butter-fat in 215 days, but it is significant that out of'the million dairy cows in the Dominion only 15,480 had been tested. Considering that butter-fat is worth two shillings per lb, and that the average annual yield in New Zealand is less than 1701bs per cow, it is apparent that if the million cows each produced the amount of butter-fat obtained from, the tested cows, the industry

would yield from three to four million sterling more than is the ease at. present. It is a serious reflection on dairy farmers that this large sum is lost for want of the application of proved business methods, and the loss, under present financial conditions, is far more serious than in normal times. Ail that is required to put an end to this wasteful system of dairying is to cull the “robber” cows, replace them, with butter-fat producers, and provide speciallygrown crops for feeding the herds. Dairymen will do well to heed the assertion made by the Government biologist (Mr. A. H. Cockayne) to the effect that dairying methods which increase the butter-fat production per acre, decrease the cost of butter-fat per pound. The pronouncement is one that might with advantage be a text prominently displayed in every milkingshed in the Dominion, for it is the crux of,the dairying problem, and should ever be kept in mind. It is to be hoped that the sound advice given by Mr. Singleton will bear fruit in the near future.