CO-OPERATIVE HERD TESTING

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 4, 5 January 1910, Page 8

CO-OPERATIVE HERD TESTING

THE GREAT MEANS OF DAIRYING.

There is no means of advancing the standard of milk production more certain in its effect or more striking in its result than that of co-operative herd testing, or ascertaining, by means of the scales and the Babcock test, the annual productive capacity of each member of the dairy herd. This is the great principle in modern dairy practice, the corner stone on which must rest the whole work of herd improvement. It will mean increasing the return without increasing the cost, and thereby ensure that milk production will be a profitable undertaking even when markets yield lower returns, or the cost of production or of living may have advanced. HERD TESTING NOT EVERYTHING. Of course, herd testing is not the beginning and the end of cow advancement. It is the great factor, nevertheless, for it provides the only key to selection and fixation of the milking type. The men who have been successful in developing the milking qualities of certain breeds of cattle in the past have worked on a rough rule-of-thumb estimate of the productive capacity of the dam and the fact that the sire was known to have come from a cow which was a deep milker. What progress will not be possible when the actual yield for 6eason after season of not only the dam of the sire, but the grand-dam, i 6 available, and the exact productive capacity of the dam is known? The future dairy bull will require to have, in addition to a stud-book pedigree, a pedigree of performance, and probably the latter will have more to do with determining his market value than the former. The practical Danes have not only established a great network of co-opera-tive herd testing associations throughout their tight little country, but have herdbook associations, which are working band in hand with the former societies. It is the same in Germany, where the Danish methods have been adopted. The great herd-testing movement has spread also to Scotland, where it is saving the valuable Scottish breed, the Ayrshire, from being spoilt from a utility viewpoint. The Canadian Government Department of Agriculture has introduced the principle with a considerable measure of success, and it is spreading in a lesser degree in the United States. THE DANISH LESSON. The practical Danes now regard herdtesting as an essential principle in successful milk production. It has improved the standard of their native dairy stock to a most gratifying extent. According to inquiries made in Denmark by the Dairy Commissioner, Mr. D. Cuddie, the average yield of the Danish cow was 7001b of milk less per annum ten years ago than it was last year, a result entirely due to the work of the herd-testing associations. In New Zealand we have a better type of cow on which to base our work of advancement, so that ten years' experience of herd-testing in this country should show even a. greater increase in productive capacity. One of the first things which strikes the visitor to a Danish byre is the little blackboard above the head of each cow's stall, giving the weight of milk and production of fat during the past season, together with particulars as to cost of feed. A picture produced""on this page, kindly lent by Mr. Cuddie, shows the business end of a number of red Danish cows, and gives a very good idea of the fine stamp of dairy cow which has been developed by means of the testing associations, the work of -which has enabled selection to take place on a sure basis, and the work of grading up the herds to be accomplished in the shortest space of time, and with the greatest surety of result. THE WORK IN AUSTRALIA. New South Wales led the way in cooperative herd-testing in this part of the world, due to the generosity of a wealthy farmer in donating £ 100 towards the cost of the work. An association was established last season, but operations were abandoned before the season concluded owing to a protracted drought. It is, however, being continued this year, those participating in the partial test of last season's interrupted yield being quite satisfied as to the value of the principle. NEW ZEALAND'S MODEL ASSOCIATION. ■If JJew ; Zealand-has been content .to follow other* ia the tatablishment of

herd-testing societies, it is at- least instituting the • work on a very satisfactory footing. The Dairy Commissioner, Mr. I D. Cuddie, obtained permission prior to the commencement'of the present season to institute a model association, after a consistent advocacy of the principle for a number of years past. Having obtained Ministerial sanction, Mr. Cuddie lost no time in getting to work. He had the valuable assistance of Mr. W. M. Singleton, the assistant director of the division, who is superintending the work of the model association. So far there have been three reports of the association, and a study of them is convincing enough testimony to the value of herd-testing. In several particulars the work at Dalefield is unlike that in vogue in Denmark and some other countries which have adopted the Danish model in its entirety. Before the testing commenced, Mr. Singleton asked each member of the association to let him have the order and merit of the cows in the herd according to his observation and judgment, and to the credit of the Dalefield farmers be it said only one or two omitted to reply. The idea was a very happy one. It was known before the work started the opinion entertained by the members of the different cows in their herds, and a basis was thus provided of some most interesting comparisons aB the monthly testing proceeds. The rules of the model association of the Department differ in several, leading features from those of the associations of other countries. Being an absolutely new idea, the tests are being only taken once a month, against once a fortnight as in Denmark and Germany. It is not, of course, considered by the Department that the monthly test is suffioent, though the fortnightly testing would greatly increase the cost of working the scheme. Then, with the Dalefield test, the farmer weighs and samples the milk of his cowsj in Europe this is done by an official who visits each farm once a fortnight. There is not the great need in this country to consider the- amount -of food consumed by each cow, but in Denmark, where the feeding of concentrated, and costly foodstuffs throughout the winter is imperative, a knowledge of the ratio of food to butter-fat is an important matter. The requirements in Denmark make the work of the official heavy, and considerably curtails the field he can cover. In New Zealand the official tester could probably deal with double the number of cows; and this would bo necessary, for our herds are double and treble the size of those of Denmark, and the wages of the official would be more than twice those paid in the Old World. A BIG UNDERTAKING. Few people have any idea of the labour involved in carrying out the work of a testing association, even under our simplified system. There are eight hundred tests to be made at Dalefield, and it is reckoned that a man does a fair day's work if he gets through a hundred. However, the expert of the Department is putting through two hundred, but even at this rate the testing takes four days. Then the tables have to be prepared and got out, which takes a few days more. Under the New Zealand scheme the Dalefield Co-opera-tive Dairy Company is providing the tester, the driving power, and, of course, the accommodation. The farmer has nothing to pay beyond providing v pair of scales, the test bottles and a box in which to convey these to the factory. WHAT OF THE FUTURE. It is obvious if an association were established on the same lines as those on which Dalefield is conducted in each province, where dairying is carried on to any extent, the cost would be very considerable. It would certainly pay the Department to do so, for a general extension of herd-testing associations, which might naturally be expected to follow the presence of a model association in a district, would be more effective in raising the standard of dairying than any scheme of inspection. It will probably be found that the Department will extend the model associations, providing farmers are prepared to pay something towards the cost. Even if this be a condition no difficulty should be experienced in introducing the great movement to each district. It is very certain that if the members of the Dalefield Association are called upon to pay something tangible towards the cost of the work next season they will willingly do so, for the operations of the association, even at this early stage of its progress, have considerably broadened their ideas in regard to milk production. It has also increased their interest in their herds and has made dairying a much more attractive occupation than they had ever anticipated it could become. LESSONS FROM TESTING. Many surprises have been caused by results of the monthly tests. The most striking of these is the absolutely new idea some members have of certain cows in their herds. In two instances cows which it had been intended to put into the saleyard were found to be very profitable animals. This, of course, so far as a two months' test indicated. The only test which matters is that which extends over the entire season. It is for this reason that the herd-testing association is so valuable. All showyard and other brief tests are useless, and often do more harm than good. It is not the cow which gives a heavy production of butter-fat for several months of the year which i 3 valuable, but very often the moderate milker, which never varies and milks strongly right through the season, which is the most profitable cow in the end. The show test would degrade such an animal, whereas the year's test would place her in her rightful position.