REMARKABLE SUPPORT

Taranaki Daily News, 20 July 1935, Page 9

REMARKABLE SUPPORT

CALF REARING CLASSES RECORD FOR SOUTH TARANAKI. QUALITY STEADILY IMPROVES. EXTENSION TO WHANGAMOMONA. That the calf rearing competition has firmly established itself with the boys and girls of South Taranaki schools is proved beyond all doubt by the remarkable support it receives each year, states the* annual report for 1934-35. Each year for the past 11 years the association has recorded an increase in the number of entries. until the total has now reached 550, an., advance of 56 on the previous season’s total, and this despite the fact that a small entrance fee has/ been charged for the. first time. The follow-, ing figures show the steady progress that has been made in the past ten years:—

There were few cases where there was any loss of interest after the entry had: been made, and of the 550 entries 482? were paraded for inspection of the; judges. This represents 87.6 per cent, of the entries and is a very good proportion. Of this total the figures for the. various breeds were as. follows: Jerseys 404, Friesians 51, Shorthorns 13, Ayrshire' 10, Red'Polls 4. The main conditions of the competition 1 were the same as in the past, the competition being confined to grade heifer calves bom between August 1 and September 15. This season the area Was extended to embrace the schools in the Whangamomona area, and the local committee decided to adopt the same conditions as for the rest of South Taranaki except for the rule that provides for the period of new milk being restricted to six weeks. I '

The rearing class has remained the most important part of the competition,: and in this the judging’ has again been on the basis of dairy condition 100 points and record chart 30 points! Separate classes for the heavy and light breeds have been retained, with the winning calves from each school going on to the group judging where further success has rendered them eligible for the champion-ship-judging. While the condition of the, best calves was no better than in pre-: vious years, for. the simple reason that improvement in the condition of the winners would be impossible, the pro-: gress that is apparent each year, lies inthe more even condition of- the calves brought forward at each school. There: are now. very few calves in the competition that are not in good dairy condition,; and the improvement in both the selection of the food and the quantities-used l is disclosed from the .record i PROGRESS TOWARDS IDEAL : The record charts themselves disclose good work i n the keeping of. an accurate, record of the food given to the calf,'and. the cost, together with the additional in-i formation in regard to health, rugging, shelter, pasture, etc. From questions', asked from time to time it appears necessary to. again pdint-Dut that the - cost of. feeding is not taken into account in' judging, the r sqcQrd-chftrtsr. 7 .XXX The judging on daily type was again conducted as a separate class, but every year-is now-disclosing a greater number of cases. r of the best reared calf being also the calf with the best dairy type. It is -way that progress is being made towards the ideal of having good! dairy, type calves well reared. Thisj season ..the first, second and third placed' calves wbre eligible for the group and chtoripiqriship judgings. , - The parents, who attend in large numbers at rnany of the centres, are interested to no less a degree, than the; children to the lecturettes given by the! judges- after they have made their placings. ' This has always been one of the most valuable features of the work, and it is to this, as much as to anything else,' 1 that credit can be given for the ever improving quality of the calves that are being ■ reared, calves that in most cases are being retained for the dairy herds. It is to be regretted that more of the animals are not seen in subsequent years. For the past season only 36 yearlings, six two-year-olds and three three-year-olds were brought back to the schools, for further judging. There Was no competition at the championship for Mr. F. Hoskin’s special prize for the best two-year-old in milk. ' The championship judging took place at Taumata Park, Eltham, on December 18 under favourable weather conditions and before a very large attendance of the public. Calves were present from all parts of the district, and . the day was a most successful one. Our thanks are due to all those who assisted in making the day so successful, and particularly to the Eltham Borough Council for placing the park as well as other facilities at our disposal. We were pleased to avail ourselves of the assistance of judges from the North Taranaki Agricultural Clubs for the final judging. The liandling of the calves has always been regarded as a matter of great importance and has been the subject of deinonstrations by the judges. An increasing interest is being taken in the matter, and special prizes have been given at many centres for the best handled calf. The cow judging competitions inaugurated in 1931 were again conducted at the group centres and attracted a lot of attention. In all 210 children took part in these competitions. The special classes for club calves at the Egmont and Stratford A. and P. shows were well supported. Special mention must be made of the assistance rendered to the association by all those who acted as judges. Many did so at considerable sacrifice of time, as well as being put to expenses in the matter of travelling. The report acknowledges indebtedness to parents, teachers, supervisors, the Press, and donors of special prizes.

Year. Entries. Schools. 1924 132 18 1925 175 25 1926 283 39 1927 344 40 1928 ' ’ 357 45 1929 416 48 1930 439 52 1931 455 47 1932 474 49 1933 494 49 1934 550 59