New Method of Testing Cows.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 8290, 3 November 1905, Page 7

New Method of Testing Cows.

A new system of testing the milk yield of purebred dairy cows has been in operation in Wisconsin since 1894 in connection with several breeding societies, who offer prizes for the best records made, and place the animals whose miik reaches a certain standard on a special register. These tests (says the Wisconsin Journal of Agriculture) have become a material factor in the purchase and sale of dairy cattle, and prices paid for purebred cattle at auction sales have in recent years been determined primarily by their records in these tests, the build aud type of the animals being given a second place. The tests are carried out by a representative of the Wisconsin Experiment Station, who sees the cow milked, weighs the milk, samples.and tests it in duplicate. The length of the test varies according to the requirements of the societies, but they may extend over seven days or 30 days, or they may be made on one day each month. The requirements for admission to the register in the case of tire Holstein-Friesian Association are that cows shall produce in the course of seven days at two years old 7.21b of butter-fat; at three year old, B.Blb ; at four years old, 10.41b ; and at five years old or above 121b. For every day above two, three, or four years the requirements are increased by .004391b. In the case of the American Guernsey Cattle Club cows are required to yield 101b of butter-fat in seven days at four years old, and this figure is increased by .004561b per day for older cows until five years of age, when the required amount will have reached 151b.