CAN YOU JUDGE A COW?

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4694, 16 May 1935, Page 7

CAN YOU JUDGE A COW?

WASTERS, OR HIGH PRODUCERS

All experience goes to hsow that it is futile to speak of the -productive ability of a dairy cow, except as proven by her test. When herdrecording was commenced it was contended by many farmers that they could tell what their cows were doing without putting them under record, merely by relying on outward appearances, such as body formation, the size of milk veins, and size and shape of the eseutchen. There were those who knew the quality of milk by its colour, and others who could tell by its feel. The systems of judging were many and diverse. To settle the matter definitely for them the New South Wales Department of Agriculture arranged that when the recorders went their first rounds, members were to pick out on their own judgment the three best and three worst cows in their herds, and at the conclusion of the year’s testing their selections were to be compared wth the actual returns obtained as shown by the Babcock test. Each member put his pick down' on paper and handed it over to the tester. The results convinced all concerned that they were wrong in their contentions; the Babcock won all along the line. In not one case was an owner able to pick out without error his worst and best cows. The majority were right out in their reckoning. In some cases those picked out as the worst proved to be among the highest yielders. One farmer thought so much of a cow that he had paid a fancy price for her and brought her at considerable expense some 200 miles to his farm on the Tweed. He thought her the best cow on that river, and certainly by appearance she was a top-notcher. She was first recorded six weeks after calving and gave one halfpound of butter for the twenty-four hours’ milking, the test being 1.9 per cent. fat. She was in good health and condition and feed was plentiful. The following month she just exceded a quarter of a pound of butter for the day. The third month s test showed the day’s production to be under a quarter of a pound. She gave a fair quantity of milk, but there was too little fat in it. She was soon culled out.