518 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Sept., 1919. 



early, and putting the preliminary years of culling behind them, and 



thus be in a position to supply tested animals for sale when the demand 



becomes more insistent, as it surely will. Already 23 dairy farmers 



are in the race for supremacy, with one or more laps to their credit. 



and with representatives of no mean order, as the records of the fcllow- 



ing show' : — 



Lbs. of rp-,^ Lbs. of Lbs. milk 

 milk. ^^^^- fat. on last day 



Geelong Harbor Trust's — 



" Maid of SpaiTowyale " ... ... 9,733 4.6 448 2U 



W. C. Greave'^ 



"Vanity of Warrook " ... ... 9 968 4.44 442 23^ 



" Fuchsia of Warrook "... ... 10,056 4.23 425 20' 



Mr. A. E. Spiers'— 



"Camellia IV. of Ayrshire Bank " 8,217 4.96 407 16 



" Folly V. of Ayrshire Bank " .. 9,297 4.34 403 17^ 

 " Marcella of Ayrshire Bank " ... 10,548 3.98 399 20' 



Mr. J. Gallery '^- 



" Marjorie of Lailgley Park " 10,137 3.96 401 33,i, 



Mr. S. A. Johnson's — 



"Bountiful of La Motte " .. 8,739 4.44 388 22 



The following brief history of Mr. Knight's herd is interesting. In 

 1915, although it was the year of the drought — 



5 mature cows averaged ... ... 299.59 



2 second-calf cows averaged .. . . 225.53 



11 heifers averaged ... ... ... 245.3 



An average per cow of . . . ... 258.21 



In 1919 (without handicap or herd allowance)- — 



14 mature cows averaged . . ... 419.73 



2 second-calf cows averaged .. ... 413.2 



14 heifers averaged ... ... ... 366.31 



394.35 



An average per cow of ... 

 over a period, it must always be remembered, of 273 days. 



In 1915 the first mature cow at Tarnpirr was 86th in the order of 

 merit. This year there are four in the first 20. The highest second - 

 calf cow from Tarnpirr in 1915 was 30th; now one is third, and in 

 the heifer class, progress has been made from 13th to 1st, with the 

 very handsome return of 493.8 lbs. of butter fat. Computing the 

 value of butter fat at Is. per lb. for both periods, the average return 

 per eow during 1915 would have been £12 IBs., whilst for the year ended 

 30th June, 1919, it w^ould have been £19 14.s. The lesson is obvious- 

 without testing, culling, breeding, and feeding on sound principles, the 

 herd would have been very little, if any, better to-day than it was five 

 years ago, and profits — bearing in mind the cost of production — much 

 less. To-day, Mr. Knight's average return for nine months is £27 18s. 6d. 

 per cow, for butter fat is now worth Is. 5d. per lb. The increased cost 

 of production can have few terrors for the owner, for it must be borne 

 in mind that the figures just quoted are for nine months only, and the 

 herd was still yielding heavily at the completion of the test. Further, 

 no tillowance has been made for the value of skim milk. 



