WHERE HAWKE’S BAY LAGS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 136, 23 May 1928, Page 9

WHERE HAWKE’S BAY LAGS

calf marking movemeni. At a recent meeting of farmers at Franklin Mr. Hume, secretary of the New Zealand Co-operative HerdTesting Assn., stressed the possibili. ties of the calf marking movement, and said he anticipated that 4,000 calves would be marked this year as against 1544 for the last year and 630 in the first year of operation. The market calf fair held at Frankton early in March was a decided success, in that ail lots offering sold at satisfactory prices. A shipment of 61 calves was sent to Fiji in February, 31 of that number being purchased at £5 10/- each, 20 at £5 and 10 at £7—prices in excess of those ruling before the movement was introduced. Calf marking was the first real organised attempt to retain the best calves. While on this subject Mr. Hume stressed the necessity of some additional system through which it could be ensured that all the best bred calves were kept for the future requirements of the dairy industry. In dealing with federation matters he mentioned that twelve of the thirteen recognised associations were members of the federation, which controlled the calf marking, and in consequence the "T" in the shield, the federation mark, was the hall-mark lor calves throughout the Dominion. At the last session of Parliament, he continued, legislation had been passed making it compulsory to register any calf-marking system. Throughout his address Mr. Hume continually emphasised the importance of a pedigree bull with butterfat backing, and in this connection he said he was surprised to learn that of the 1400 herds tested by the association last year, over 70 per cent, were using at least one pedigree bull. From figures it seemed that as far as the association’s district was concerned, the "scrub" hull problem had been solved 1 by the calf marking scheme.