14 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Jan., 1918. 



for his produce than those who sell inferior-keeping produce. His gain 

 may not be more than from a halfpenny to a penny per gallon of milk 

 or pound of butter fat, but even this reward of cleanliness amounts to 

 a fair sum in the course of the year. It is in the flush season, when milk 

 and cream are plentiful, that the careful farmer receives the greatest 

 benefit, for his produce is then in demand. The careless or dirty farmer 

 usually persuades himself that he is getting just as much for his produce 

 as those do who exercise more care in its handling; but the buyers of 

 dairy produce are keen business men, and have just as many oppor- 

 tunities of equalizing matters as buyers of other goods. An occasional 

 can of milk or cream, returned for being sour or otherwise deteriorated, 

 may easily be forgotten by the producer, and its loss will make a differ- 

 ence of a penny per gallon on several consignments, but it is not the 

 careful farmer who loses in this way. The careless man deludes him- 

 self badly on this subject. He pays, and pays heavily, for dirty, slovenly 

 work, because pennies lost soon amount to pounds. Cleanliness in dairy 

 management is an essential building stone in the archway to success. 



In fact, every stone showm in this figurative archway is of equal 

 importance, for none can be left out without endangering the construc- 

 tion. Careful attention to every section will make the perfect structure, 

 but tlie one that is, above all, most indispensable, and in which every 

 care should be taken to make it perfect, is the centrepiece, or keystone — 

 the tested dairy herd. 



The question of on what minimum-yield basis dairy cows should be 

 culled is one every farmer should answer for himself. It is a matter of 

 actual cash returns over the cost of production. What is the return 

 from each cow per year, and what does it cost to produce it? The 

 returns are shown in actual cash received; in the expenditure should 

 be included the cost of grazing, cultivation, fodder purchased, calf food, 

 labour of milking, delivery of produce, and upkeep of farm plant. The 

 net income will show the farmer the financial result. The testing of his 

 herd will show him which cows are bringing in a reasonable return, and 

 those which he is wasting time and money in keeping. One point, how- 

 ever, should be borne in mind by all, viz., that 500 gallons of milk, or 

 200 lbs. of butter fat, per cow per year can be obtained from a herd by 

 systematic working, and, therefore, no dairy farmer should be satisfied 

 with less. When that standard is reached, further progress will quickly 

 follow. 



The most difiicult part of herd testing is to make a start. Those who 

 have not begun are always apt to persuade themselves that it is not neces- 

 sary in their particular case. The surprise comes when it is found how 

 many cull cows the herd has carried, for any untested herd is a particu- 

 larly good one in which 10 per cent, of the cows are not so unprofitable 

 that they ought to be replaced with better ones, and there is no time like 

 the present for doing it. 



Under the gradual increase in the cost of labour that has taken place 

 during recent years, and which is still going on, the profit from dairy 

 farming under the no-testing method is s^Deedily growing less. On the 

 other hand, where cows are regularly and systematically tested, and 

 calves are as systematically raised from these tested cows mated with 

 milking-pedigree bulls, and culling out of the poorest milkers is con- 

 tinually going on, the milk yield from the herd is gradually on the 

 increase. Consequently, under systematic working, the higher price of 



