GROUP HERD-TESTING

Taranaki Daily News, 20 July 1933, Page 13

GROUP HERD-TESTING

MEETING AT KOHURATAHI. ADDRESS BY- MR. C. M. HUME. A meeting of dairy farmers in the Whangamomona, Kohuratahi and Tahora districts was held in the Kohuratahi Hall on Tuesday. Considering the comparatively small number of farmers engaged in dairying in these districts, and the hour being one which is not popular for holding such assemblies, there was a large attendance, including a good' sprinkling of ladies. Mr. R. A; Kirton was voted to the chair. Mr. Hugh Baily, secretary to the Taranaki Co-operative Group Herd-Testing Association addressed the meeting, and stated that although ' this was the first group meeting which had been called in the district, and testing had been in operation for only two seasons, he was delighted wit!, the large number present. He thanked them as he was aware that many had travelled long distances in ord., to attend. Mr. C. M. Hume (Dominion Supervisor of Group Herd-Testing) said he regretted that he was under the impression that there was an electric supply to the Kohuratahi hall, and whilst he carried an acetylene light for his lantern it had not been found to operate successfully during the daytime, even in a darkened hall. Therefore he could not illustrate his lecture by lantern slides as had been his intention. Incidentally, he thanked his listeners for the very considerable trouble they had gone to in darkening the hall for him. . Mr. Hume was handicapped in delivering his lecture in that- he had to condense his usual form of address into limited time, as he w?.s due to deliver another lecture at Strathmore at 2 i. However, he promised that at the earliest possible opportunity he would make a special trip to Kohuratahi at night in order to deliver his full lantern lecture. Mr. Hume’s address followed the lines of his lectures delivered at Oakura and Lepperton. Mr. Hume reviewed group herd-testing from its inception in 1922, explained the present organisation of group herd-testing in the Dominion, and remarked how representative of all interests in New Zealand was the central executive, and how it comprised some of the most able men in both islands. Mr. Hume stressed particularly the value of continuous testing year after year, explained the operation o- the Dominion calf-marking and the certified butter bull schemes, and dealt with the methods to be adopted in calf rearing. In connection with this he stressed the value of meat meal for feeding calves, but urged the importance of being cer-

tain that it was meat meal and not meat and bone meal, which would be dangerous for calf feeding. He gave a very simple “tip” as to how to tell true meat meal. Mr. Hume explained the progress being made in pig recording work in the Waikato, and showed how it had led to more profitable pig farming in the same way as group herd-testing had led to more profitable dairying. He said that pig recording work had shown the importance of securing a pig with the greatest possible weight by the age of eight weeks, and this in turn had led to the “creep” system of feeding, which he also expounded. At the conclusion of the lecture the chairman -invited questions and these, Which dealt chiefly with the individual marking of bulls for the certified bull scheme and the feeding of calves, were answered by Mr. Hume. The following group committee was elected:—Messrs. H. Kirton (chairman), E. Clark, E. J. R. Hill, E. Mantle and A. McCutchan. Mr. A. McCutchan was appointed delegate to the annual meeting of the association to be held at New Plymouth on Friday. It is probable that the testing officer of the Kohuratahi group will pay a special visit to the Waikato in order to gain first-hand knowledge of this work, with a view to its subsequent inaugu- ' ration in the Kohuratahi district.