HERD-TESTING.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 October 1929, Page 8

HERD-TESTING.

The progress in scientific testing of cows revealed at the annual meeting of the Taranaki Herd Testing Association was gratifying so far as it went, though there is room for considerable improvement even yet. Of all the suggestions made for the advancement of the dairyindustry, there is none in regard to which unanimity is more justified than that of herd-testing. There may be differences of opinion in regard to the best breed of cow for dairy purposes, and in regard to the best methods of treatment. But there can be but one conclusion in regard to herd-testing. It is the substitution of a scientific assertion of fact for mere guesswork. For a stock owner to omit testing as a most important part of the management of his dairy « herd is almost as foolish as it would be for a manufacturer to omit an accurate system of book-keeping from the management of a factory. The expansion in the herdtesting movement in Taranaki last year was cheering, no less than 13 new groups having been formed in that- period. The supervision of the work by independent officials adds considerably to its reliability as a record of the potential value of each animal in a herd of dairy cows. The excellent work of the. organising secretary (Mr. Hugh Bailey) has contributed considerably to the success of the movement. In the interesting address given by the Dominion organiser of the herd-testing movement (Mr. C. M. Hume) he showed how the Waikato system of branding calves from cows that have proven their quality is adding greatly to the value of the young stock. What is more important is that by this means a purchaser of "marked” calves knows he is much more likely to be purchasing suitable stock and is not obliged to wait a season before knowing whether the additions to hie herd are payable or not. This in turn tends to greater production without increasing working costs, the goal at which every producer is aiming. Herdtesting has long since passed the stage of experiment or theory. Its value has been proven to the h ; lt and the dairy farmer who fails to take advantage of the facilities now offered is maintaining an unnecessary handicap to increased profits from his industry.