SPLENDID PROPAGANDA

Taranaki Daily News, 27 May 1933, Page 12 (Supplement)

SPLENDID PROPAGANDA

DOMINION HERD TESTING. ADDRESS BY MR. C. M. HUME. In the winter months the Dominion Supervisor of the Group Herd-testing Federation visits the dairying districts of both islands to stimulate interest in more progressive methods of dairy farming. Mr. Hume has developed a style of address, illustrated by first-class limelight pictures, which has become the most entertaining type of lecture that is given on rural subjects in this country. He gave his first winter lecture at Ngarua on Monday evening last. It was as successful as ever. Among his pictures, all of which were new, were several that were highly appreciated. One particularly clever one illustrated the farcical character of some of the pedigrees printed in the catalogues of the annual bull sales. The pictures in regard, to successive records were very telling. Mr. Hume made the great point that if every few years a cow is not tested for a year the future buyer of marked stock will want to know the reason for the blanks in the table of records and will at once surmise that the animal was not tested in particular years because something had gone wrong with her. Only by testing every cow every year, said Mr. Hume, could the owner have definite proof to submit to prospective, purchasers of his marked stock that the dams were not only heavy and consistent producers but that they were regular breeders and were absolutely resistant to disease. But the lecture was brimful of good arguments for continuous testing and for consistently applying the great lessons that herd-testing affords. Several members of the audience subsequently remarked that that the lecture was the most interesting they had ever attended. A Warning. A readers are reminded that commencing with this spring no calves can be marked which are by a sire that, if born after July 1, 1931, is not from a tested cow having a certain standard of performance and for which a certificate of the Herd-testing Association is not available. MODERN PIG-KEEPING. MAGNIFICENT PROGRESS. It is estimated that by the end of this month the New Zealand Co-operative Pig Marketing Association will have handled this season no less than 75,000 pigs, an increase of over 300 per cent, on the number of pigs dealt with last year, when the. total was 21,000. This was the very gratifying information given at a herd-testing meeting at Ngarua this week by Mr. N. Hastings, the association’s organiser. The association has operated only in the Auckland province in the 1931-32 season, but this season has spread its activities by invitation over the whole of the North Island. This season the Auckland suppliers of ' the association provided about 52,000 pigs against its grand total of 21,000 last year. The support being accorded the association by the balance of the districts that have linked up with it has exceeded all expectations, the greatest interest taking place everywhere in the company’s policy, to develop a profitable trade with Britain in- pork. One very satisfactory feature of the association’s work is the continuous support of the great majority of suppliers. The association, under' a special arrangement with a curing firm, now provides its suppliers the bacon they de-, sire for their own use. The sales of this bacon have increased from a value of £l3 a month to a value of close on £4OO. The Range Pig. Much support is being accorded the Large Black breed in England because of its great grazing ability. It is pointed out that pigs of the breed could be utilised to reclaim vast'areas; of bracken, or fern, country in Britain. They would not only clear the bracken but would improve the soil. The Large Black has been freely used in Britain to reclaim derelict land and to improve pasture. The breed’s capacity in this respect was'proved by Mr. S. F. Edge. Another case of the value of the Large Black is that of the large fruit growers, the Messrs. Wilkin, of Essex, leading jam manufacturers, who fold the Large Blacks, like sheep, in their extensive orchards. The manorial value of the pigs, translated into of better fruit crops, is immense, so it is said. While not doubting the value of the Large Black as a grazing pig it is very doubtful if it is superior to the Tamworth in this respect. Recording Imperative. The recording clubs of the Waikato and Manawatu are proving their great value, but they must be regarded as demonstration organisations, to demonstrate to the rest of the Dominion the great value of such work. Of course, the pigs that should fib recorded first are the pedigree pigs of the Dominion. Already the few pedigree breeders whose pigs have been recorded have found it. to be a very profitable thing to them, owing to the great demand for the progeny of recorded stock, and yet the work has cost the owners nothing. Only when pedigree herds are properly recorded by an independent official will the breeders of pedigree stock in general be able to provide the farmer with a guarantee as to utility value which should accompany every pedigree animal. In this respect the pig breeder is in much the same position as the dairy cattle breeder. The recording of pedigree pigs should, of course, be carried out by the Pedigree Pig-Breeders’ Association. The National Pig-Breeders’ Association of England has had a pig-recording scheme in operation for years and is now proposing .the establishment of an advanced register. When will the New Zealand organisation follow the good example ? While pig-recording is an essential requirement of the business of the breeder of pedigree animals it is also of great value to every farmer keeping pigs. Apparently there is no possibility, of taking the desirable service to farmers in general. They must do their .own recording. Soon, however, every fanner who hopes to make the most, out of his pigs will have to adopt the general use of the scales as a necessary guide as to when his pigs should be marketed. In England the herd-testing officials do pigrecording work, but the English system of herd-testing enables the testers to act in a dual capacity. The English (not the Scotch) testing officers do not do the actual weighing and sampling, but visit the farm several times in the season to check the work of the farmer who has to take the mflk weights. The butterfat percentage of the milk is not always taken, and when it is taken it is a special service. In New Zealand the one man could not be a herd-tester and a pig-recorder, for the reason that litters have to be weighed at different times, when eight weeks old and when 16 weeks old, and it is seldom the herd-tester would be conveniently near enough to do the work, even if he were only a sampling officer. No, for many years to come, the farmer would have to do his own pig-recording. On the other hand, the recording of pedigree pigs ir • be done by an independent official, r ■ the sooner this necessary work js brought about the better it will be for the industry.