lo Dec, 1910.] 



Farm Milking Tests. 



795 



Conditions. 



1. The cows to be milked at their homes under the supervision of Officers of 

 the Department of Agriculture for a period of 24 hours in the two weeks previous- 

 to the show, and the day's butter production to be taken as the basis in deciding 

 the cow's yield. 



2. In the event of two cows obtaining the same highest yield of butter, the 

 prize to go to the cow that gave the most milk. 



3. All cows entered to be shown on the day of show. 



4. No test or butter returns to be made available until cows are in pens at show 

 yard on the day of show. 



To give some idea of the iiitere.st taken prior to entering any cows, it 

 may be said that over 40 milk samples were tested for owners by the 

 proprietors of the Swan Hill Butter Factory, besides numerous trial tests 

 made by other owners having a testing outfit on their farms. This com- 

 petition has been the means of making owners take more interest in the 

 returns from their cows and has put testing apparatus into more general 

 use. Thirteen entries were ultimately received, two of which were later 

 disqualified for non-appearance at the Show. Several entries were with- 

 drawn mainly owing to exaggerated rumours being afloat as to what 

 certain cows were yielding. It is to be regretted that people take so 

 much notice of what they hear, and also that they have so much fear of 

 being beaten. It is anticipated that the entries will be much larger next 

 year. The following are the results: — 



The figures in the butter fat result column show how keen the competi- 

 tion was for first place. 



It was unfortunate that, on the day of the trial for the two leading 

 cows, a cold southerly wind was prevalent, which decreased their milk 

 yield for the day by several pounds. To have all the cows milked at 

 the same time would require an army of stewards. Figures taken pre- 

 vious to the competition showed each of the two leading cows to be yield- 

 ing 6 gallons per day. 



The three cows owned by Mr. R. Prince gave close results, and the 

 returns should be gratifying to the owner. Mr. Prince keeps a milk 

 chart in regular use and so has accurate records of the performances of 

 individual members of the herd, which is a distinct step in the right direc- 

 tion. 



The accompanying photographs are those of the three best cows en- 

 tered. 



" Elsie," whose parents were bred by Messrs. McNab, " Oakbank,"" 

 Tullamarine, is a typical dairy cow in shape. She was sired by " Duke," 

 by "Glen Elgin's Bruce"; dam "Granny." 



