THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1904. A, AND P, SOCIETIES AND PAIRING,

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8143, 15 December 1904, Page 2

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1904. A, AND P, SOCIETIES AND PAIRING,

The letter we printed on Wednesday from a farmer in reference to the question of making dairy cattle more prominent and testing them more satisfactorily at agricultural shows will, we are sure, have been read with interest. Of course, it is a subject mainly for dairy fanners to discuss, and possibly there may be considerable difference of opinion upon it. But itr seems to us that the general public will freely accept the arguments of "X.V.X." as pretty acurate. "Handsome is as handsome does," says the old adage, and after all the bucket is the test of the dairy cow. We should suppose that the New Plymouth Society, by its apparently searching trials of the merits of the large class of dairy cows entered at its show, followed the systems of testing which bave long been recognised in America at the shows and at the experimental stations, and it is an example which we anticipate the Egmont Society will have to follow, if it is going to .develop the dairy sections of th,e show as \t .ought to do." The' table of results which we reprinted on Saturday showed what remarkable variations of yield there .were among the .cows entered. This is significant, because if, may be accepted tha,t all the animals shown were considered by jkhe^r owners to be w.ortby, and ithe.tejts diseased' that some were certainly not. Some wft(ch went jnto the competition with a character for profitableness, came out with a comparatively poor record, about 60 per cent below that of other cows. In quantity of milk yielded the comparison was not xtnUronMs, but the Babcock tester told its tale, and the difference it showed was the difference between profit and loss. It were wasted energy to point, out the essential differ ence between the two daises of cow. Every dairy iarmer recognises 4t, and is on the ahjrt io cull as quickly as iie <jan. The point pf the master is that the results W,^ »J ,«»• test are •V ■WttUVk&? 1 •fe'.vpne and Wto be

mic interest of the fanner, the industry, and the colony. It is the practice and the duty of Agricultural and Pastoral Associations to assist in improving the general standard, and the only question with them ia how best to do it. The correspondent whose letter we hare referred to has put forward his view as a practical working farmer, and we shall be glad to print the opinions of others. All, no doubt, will agree that the Egmont Association, by reason of its influence and reputation is bound to do its utmost in this matter, and in view of its large membership and the practical importance of the matter to the district it cannot allow any forward movement to be dependent on the success of a canvass for a prize or prizes. It is strong enough to do the right and necessary thing without calling on the dairy factories. The question is, what is the best course to be pursued, and that can be arrived at by discussion in the press and at the Society's annual meeting.