THE ON-MARCH OF HERD TESTING.

Otago Witness, Issue 3611, 29 May 1923, Page 10

THE ON-MARCH OF HERD TESTING.

All breed societies have one common aim—the elimination of inferior stock and the improvement of the stock of the country—thankful, of course, of in doing so its members are thereby enriched. The progress of a breed society may well postulate the particular breed’s ability to push its way in the country. When a breed society flourishes we know that it must be ousting inferior stock. Closeiy akin to the pedigree development and almost corollary to- it, is the milk-record-ing movement. Its economic value is undoubted. The progress made of late years under difficulties vouches for that fact. Sellers of purebred dairy cattle or even crossbreds are realising more and m.re that it helps a sale wonderfully if records of the milking achievements are produced. Indeed, we anticipate that buyers will before long not be satisfied with the certified performances of the dams, but call for the records of the dams of the sires also. In practically all businesses it is a fundamental factor of ecomomics that the best way to reduce the cost of production is to increase manufactures, and experience would seem to prove that this axiom is applicable to the heavy milking cow. On one farm at Home, where the costs in feeding the cow were t fully kept, it was found that a 2000gallon cow left her owners a profit of ±lßl in the year on milk alone, reckoning all expenditure and making no allowance for the calf. At ono time the opinion was freely held that the 2COO-gallon yield was injurious to the constitution of the cow, and the view was further expressed that such production was so unnatural that no animal could repeat the performance. The refutation of these criticisms lies in the fact (.says an exchange) that nearly all the 2000-gallon cows are alive and .breeding still, the casualties amongst them being no more —and, if anything, rather less—numerous than amongst ordinary cattle. Alreadv 10 cows have twice exceeded the 2000-gallon yield m one year, and those who are familiar with these animals have been impressed with their constitution, which is a necessity to extreme production, and without which a very big yield is impossible. We now have the 3000-gallon cow with others in the British Empire close on her heels,' which goes to prove the value of authenticated records in the work of propagating deep milking strains. In choosing a bull one looks to the pedigree, as it has been established that the sons of deep milking cows possess the faculty to transmit the qualities of their darns to their offspring in an least an equal degree to the daughters. It is a safe deduction to say that no development in modern times has done more “to improve the utility value of the dairy stock of the country than the spread of herd-test-in” (slow as it is) and co-ordination of the milk-recording system. We may well encourage the dairying industry. Our dairy exports hulked largely for the year ending March 31, 1923. in the value of exports from New Zealand. Taking the principal classes cf produce exported the values compare as under:

Wool, frozen meat and sheepskins accounted for £22,430,373 during the past year and butter and cheese for £15.808,986, the five classes of produce named being responsible for £38.239,359 out of the total of £45.548.700. Although to-dav the export of dairy products are considerably behind as regards . values when compared with wool and meat, there seem to be mam- good reasons why New Zealand should go on still increasing her output of dairy produce, even if it is in a measure at the expense of the sheep industry. If anything will effect the change it is herd-testing linked up with feeding.

1922-23. 1921-22. £ £ Wool . . 11,955,567 7,699 137 Frozen meat 0.593,277 10 3=5,846 Cheese 5,434,417 7,613,254 Butter .. 10,324.560 8,885.820 Tallow 736.158 894.077 Sheepskins 951 529 1,0-17.0,33 Rides 542 .8=3 593.191 Hemp 233.711 303,193 Timber 489,933 529,234 .614,703,561 £42,036,918