Herd Testing in the North

Northland Age, Volume 1, Issue 11, 18 December 1931, Page 2

Herd Testing in the North

Mangonui Association The Group averages of the Mangonui Herd Testing Association for November, 1931, were as follows: No 1 Group 788 cows, 8231b5. milk, 4.4 test, 35.981 b. fat. Highest herd average —2B cows, 491bs. fat. Lowest herd average—26lbs. fat. Highest cow—B4lbs fat. The highest herd was owned by T. M. Lane and Sons of Kaeo, whose 28 cow’s averaged 49.461b5. of fat for 30 days. The highest cow was owned by Mr. C. P. Roke of Kaeo, and gave 841bs. of fat. No. 2 Group 868 cows, 7601b5. milk, 4.7 test, 35.361b5. fat. Highest herd average —27 cows, 461bs. fat. Lowest herd average—26lbs. fat. Highest cow—B3lbs. fat. The highest herd was owned by Mr. John Poster of Oruaiti, whose 27 cows averaged 45.931b5. of fat for 30 days. The highest cow was owned by Mr. S. W. Switzer of Takahue, and gave 831bs. of fat. No. 3 Group 1149 cows, 7751bs milk, 4.4 test, 34.081b5. fat. Highest herd average —3l cows, 521bs. fat. Lowest herd average—lslbs fat. Highest cow—B4lbs. fat. The highest herd was owned by Mrs. J. L. Price of Awanui, whose 31 cows averaged 52.531b5. of fat for 30 days. The highest cow was also owned by Mrs. Price, and gave 841bs. of fat. No. 4 Group 1366 cows, 8301bs. milk, 4.5 test, 37.421b5. fat. Highest herd average —IOB cows, 481bs. fat. Lowest herd average—2Blbs. fat. Highest cow—92lbs. fat. The highest herd was owned by Mr. C. S. Puckey, whose 108 cows averaged 48.171b5. of fat for 30 days. The highest cow was owned by Mr. T. J. Senn of Kaitaia, and gave 921bs. of fat for 30 days. The average of the four groups with 4171 cows was : 7991b5. milk, 4.5 test, 35.781b5. fat. The average for the 1930-31 season, 5 groups with 4609 cows, was : 7521b5. milk, 4.6 test, 34.271b5. fat. Individual (Own Sample) System 878 cows, 7731b5. milk, 4.2 test, 32.61b5. fat. In the 1930-31 season it stood : 874 cows, 6991b5. milk, 4.4 test, 30.941b5. fat.

Transport Charges _>etween 1914 and 1929 the population of the Dominion had increased by 29 per cent., production had increased by 102 percent, but transport charges had increased by 147 percent, said Mr. A. McNiel, business manager of the Railway Department in an address at Greytown. In the same period, the capital charges of transport had increased by 128 percent. There was now one motor vehicle for every 6.8 persons. In 1914 the annual cost of land transport was i'17,750,000, and in 1929 it had risen to £43,750,000.

Rabbits have invaded South Taranaki, says the district stock inspector, and the aid of the Farmers’ Union has been invoked to stamp them out. Eleven dairy cows out of a herd of 40, the property of Mrs. Chalmers, of Horahora, were found electrocuted recently as the result of a high tension line breaking. “New Zealand is going to be the greatest stud sheep breeding country in the world within 50 years, I am certain of that.”—Mr. Joseph Brooks at the annual meeting of the Ryeland Sheep Society of New Zealand. A total of £59,034, compared with £68,229 for the corresponding period of 1930, has been paid out by the 21 dairy companies whose offices are located in New Plymouth, for butterfat supplied during October. The latest teaching in regard to vitamins is that carotin, the substance that gives the high colour to rich butterfat milk is the parent substance of the most valuable vitamin, or vitamin A. This vitamin is not only essential to growth but enables human beings to resist several serious diseases. A hundred boys have been placed on farms in the Auckland Province by the New Zealand Land Settlement and Development League during the past three months, says Mr. W. J. Holdsworth, the president. They are all boys from 16 to 18 years of age, who first sought work in the city, but failed to find it.