The Hawera Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1927. THE VALUE OF HERD-TESTING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 25 June 1927, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 1927. THE VALUE OF HERD-TESTING.

Delivered every evening by 5 o’olook in Hnwera, Manaia. Normanby, Okaiawa Eltham, Mangatoki. Kaponga, Alt-*n Hurleyville. Patea, Waveriey. Mokoia Whakamara. Ohangai. Mertmere Prasei Boad and Ararata

The statement made to a representative of “The Hawera -Star’ ’. on the subject of iherd-testing, and (published in another column on this page, is of first-class importance to the dairy fanners of tlris district. Whether the message that i§ there for all Who farm to read will ibe learned by many is doubtful, judging from the experiences of the past, hut if only a few farmers are impressed sufficiently by the figures there quoted to make them consider anew the possibilities of testing, a short step forward will be made in the effort to secure l an increased return from the iland. The results obtained from the group testing scheme in Waikato are arresting, and if does not require the trained mind of an accountant, to -see what testing holds in store for South Taranaki, when it is pointed out, as our informant points out in his interview, that in W laikatay under the whole of the Co-operative Association’s scheme, with over 60,500 cows under test, the average has been increased by 481 b, and in consequence the farmers contributing to the scheme have in one year received a return of £200,000 more than they would have obtained had they been content to nniddile along in their own way and adopt a contemptuous attitude towards this scheme. And the 481 b increase is not the best result that the Waikato farmers have achieved; that figure represents the increase over a huge composite herd of sixty-odd thousand cows, but when attention is concentrated upon the best of the cows under test —<1581 cows in 29 separate herds —it is found that the average but tor fat return rises to the creditable figure of 31711hs per cow for a milking season of 285 days, equal to one and a quarter pounds of butterfat per cow per day. We need not concern ourselves for the moment with the best individual returns, which rise to 5931-bs of butterfat in 353 days from a cow and to 4461hs in 284 days from <a heifer, for there is nothing more calculated to make the apathetic farmer indifferent in his attitude towards the possibilities of herd improvement than the quotation of such performances; instead of being spurred into an effort of emulation, be 'is more likely to dismiss them as the freak achievements of a man who has the means and the leisure to dabble in the cow-mil king business as a hobby rather than as means of livelihood. This attitude is usually not justified by the real facts, but it persists. However, there is no good purpose to be served by any farmer blinking bis eyes to such facts as are proved by tests made, not of any particular cow with a. fancy pedigree and kept under conditions which, might not be practicable to the small! man struggling under adverse conditions, (but of whole herds of cows which <are owned in the main by practical farmers, who farm for a living and not as a hobby. The organisers of the Manawaru scheme have not -sought to gloss over -anything, but, on the contrary, by making thorough and exhaustive tests which have -not excluded oven sick animals, have proved up to the hilt the claims that have been made for many yeans by the advocates of the system. Even when the average of the class which, on account ol sickness or any other cause, has been confined -to Class B, is added to the hotter class average, it is still well over lOOlbs above the figures reckoned as the Dominion average. In the face of these facts it i; difficult to understand the attitude of the farmer who persists in the believing that there isnothing in testing for him. Instead of enthusiasts having to- battle year in and year out to- convince the farmer that, through herd-testing and herdimprovement, lie can increase his butterfat cheque without li penning the burden of additional 'land, the agitation should be all on the other side, with the -dairy farmer demanding in a voice both loud and strong that he should be allowed to participate an these schemes. The time will come when the

lesson already learned by the owners of sixty thousand caws in Waikato ■ will be accepted in South Taranaki, but that time will not arrive until the farmer has learned also that fanning is a business and -that be cannot afford, any more -than any other business man can afford to ignore methods of production which will increase his return upon his capital.