PUREBRED DAIRY COWS.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13171, 1 February 1936, Page 3

PUREBRED DAIRY COWS.

OFFICIAL HERD TESTING. SUMMARY OF 1934-35 SEASON. During the year ending September 39, the eighth year of operation of the Government official herd test, 14,791 cows were tested with an average of 1,849 cows per year since the commencement, writes Mr W. M. Singleton, director o*f the Dairy Division Journal of Agriculture. It should be noted, however, that many of the cows included in the total had been under test for more than one lactation period. During the season under review 2,058 cows were tested, a falling-off of 127 cows from the 1933-34 total of 2.185. The present total was the third highest since its inception, the -highest being 2,236 cows for the 1930-31 season. Again it was pleasing to record another increase in the number of herds, the figure for 1934-35 being 195, as against 184 for the preceding season, an increase oc 11 herds. This was the highest number of herds yet tested during any one season under the Government official herd test, and could be interpreted to signify an advancing popularity of the syst -in with breeders using the certificate-of-record testing. The highest number of certificates-of-record testing. The highest number of certificates-of-record breeders during the same period of 228, and therefore all but 33 breeders availed themselves of the opportunity to test other animals oi their herd by means of the Government official herd test. It was probable that the unfavourable financial position compelled many breeders to choose the Government official herd test in preference to the more expensive, although more complete, certificate-of-record test, and this no doubt also contributed to the decrease in the number of certificate-oi-record entries during the last few seasons. Signs of recovery, however, were apparent. The average butter-fat cow has decreased by 1.861 b, last season’s average being 310.04, as compared with 311.901 b for the previous year, but a point worthy of note was that despite the unfavourable season the average milking period increased by five days, the figure for 1934-3-5 being 285 days, as against 280. One hundred and fifty-one Jersey breeders tested 1368 cows, their average milk production being 5,955.71bs and butter-fat 320.801b> in 287 da vs ; twenty Friesian breeders tested 285 cows, their production being 8271.61bs of milk and 295.191bs of fat in 284 days; seven milking Shorthorn. breeders tested 182 cows which produced an average of 6332.91bs of milk and 3>34.691bs fat in 276 days ; two Ayrshire breeders tested 3i cows whose average production was 6708.21bs of milk and 266.061bs of fat in 292 days. Only four Red Polls and six Guernseys were tested, the former averaging 134.441bs of fat in 234 days and the latter 271.261bs of fat in 300 days.