Milk Uecords. 13 



with help from the Development Fund, the work accomplished 

 has more than justified its inception which was mainly due to 

 the efforts and hard work of the late Mr. John Speir. 



Each small society consists of " twelve or any other number 

 of owners of herds,'" so that apparently the interval between 

 the visits of the inspector varies from seven to fourteen days, 

 dependent entirely on the number of herds under his control. 

 That official takes the weights of milk of two milkings, 

 morning and evening, obtains the percentage of fat by the 

 Gerber test, fills up the particulars of each cow on a special 

 sheet in duplicate, and at the end of each period of lactation 

 sends in a summary of the yield of each cow to the Secretary 

 of the Milk Record Committee. It should be noted that the 

 " farmer has to fill in the pedigree and particulars of 

 each cow, including the registered number when in herd 

 book" — which looks as if registration in the herd book is not 

 obligatory. 



In order, however, to keep up the typical standard of the 

 breed, "the Ayrshire Agricultural Association, the Glasgow 

 Agricultural Society, and the Fenwick Farmers' Society give 

 prizes for cows which, according to the milk records, have 

 yielded from 600 to 1,200 gallons in one year." 



Canada. — In the month of "December, 1905, a committee of 

 breeders representing several dairy cattle record associations " 

 appealed to the Minister of Agriculture " urging him to under- 

 take the supervision of yearly tests of cows of various breeds."^ 

 This was granted, rules and regulations were drawn up, and 

 in 1908 some sixty cow testing associations had been formed. 

 In these societies the records are under Government super- 

 vision, and the names, pedigrees, and performances of those 

 cows who reach the necessary standard are published. The 

 rules governing the Record of Performance are in effect as 

 follows : — 



All tests are for a period not exceeding 365 days. 



Animals must be registered in their respective herd books. 



Cows from two to three years old are classed as two years 

 old ; those from three to four as three years old ; four 

 to five as four years old ; five years and upwards as 

 mature cows. 



In the four year old and mature classes " no cow will be 

 accepted for entry if the beginning of her previous 

 lactation period is more than fifteen months before the 

 commencement of the test." 



' '-The Use of Milk Records and How to Keep them." Mr. John Speir. 

 Journal of the Brltisli Dairy Farmers' Associat'wn. Vol. XXIV. I'JIO. 



* " The Canadian Record of Performance for pure bred Daiiy Cattle." — 

 Report No. 1. July, 1908. 



