THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1912. TESTING OF HERDS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10713, 6 September 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1912. TESTING OF HERDS.

The Wairarapa Ins' the distinction of being the firat district in the Dominion to undertake the systematic culling of dairy herd* through the process of ■cow-testing. . The effect upon' the yield of butter-fat has been simply remtukable. There is little wonder, therefore, that Taranaki and other districts should be following the example set by the Wairarapa. The Hawera Star has been devoting considerable, attention of. late to the improvement of dairy herds. . It quotes the statement of Sir Mark Stewart, President of the British Dairyfarmers' Association, that, after testing for quantity and quality, for six years "he had greatly enhanced the product of his dairy by basing the selection of his< cows'oh the results of the public tests carried out by the testers appointed by i the Highland Society, which originated the scheme, and by the committee which has now^-control of the wonc. The figures given by Sir Mark, show- ! ed that without any increase of capital or extra cost for feeding, but sim- j ply by selecting the cows which gave the best results, he had substantially ] increased the gross drawings of his dairies." Mr T. McPhillips, of Man-, aia, reports that had he begun testing seven years previously, and culled out seventeen cows whose records he had proved to be below the' average of his •whole herd, his earnings from his herd for each year would have been one hundred pounds more than they had been. His grass had been consumed by "robber cows" usually the hungriest ' n the herd. Mr McPhillips maintains that heifer calves intended for the dairy herd should get new milk for six or eight weeks, and, generally, that "cows must have plenty of suitable feed. Tt is just as essential to feed flows when thoy are turned out as when they are being milked. We must not think we "arc going to get ,4001b.0f butt^rfat.frotireven ,a .. .good. cow if she is half-starved in winter.. If cows'have bean, done well when dry, they will be at their best by three weeks after calving. If not, it will be about three months before* they hiura built- up their system* and can

make their best returns." The necessity of breeding from good bulls of fhilk record at rains, is also pointed out and an address by Mr Thomas Clement, of 'Netlierton, Renfrewshire, is quoted in which ho said that the .British Government might do a great deal more than it had done to assist the dairy industry, and he suggested that to subsidise bulls from mi:k-recorci strains for stud purposes would Jbe of more advantage- to the country than to subsidise light-legged horses. This was said in Scotland in Juno, and in February in New Zealand, Mr McPhillips wrote that "dairy-farmers, by testing their herds and finding out their best cows (and they can only be found by testing) can improve their herds by rearing tho heifer calves from these best cows. It is just as essential, though, on tho male's side; in fact, my experience has been that iit is more essential that the sire should bo of good dairy strain. . . . It is only by records and the use of a purebred bull with a milking j pedigree that we are going to get increased production."