10 Sept., 1917] UenI TeHing. 525 



production of most of the herds tends to rise. This is as it should 

 be. An improved herd is the consummation of herd testing. No 

 owner should be content to test his cows and leave it at that. If one 

 does not act on the information which the scales and tester afford, he 

 must soon fall back in competition with the man who does. Herd 

 testing will disclose the unfit. It then rests with the owner to eliminate 

 them. The standard constituting a first class herd is fast moving 

 forward, and is now so far advanced as to be unattainable except by 

 regular culling. The foremost herds are not in front because of herd 

 testing alone, but because the owners are shrewd enough to utilize the 

 information thus afforded. Herd testing is not an end in itself; it 

 is the means to an end, which is the elimination of the unfit. Good 

 feeding alone never yet made a first class milking herd. It is no doubt 

 one, but only one, of the essentials. Let all the cows be fed equally 

 well, uniformity of yield will not result. Certain cows will outstrip 

 others by virtue of nothing else than inherent milking capacity. Feed 

 vdll never m_ake a good milker out of a born " duffer," and it is no 

 use practical daii-ymen professing to believe that any one could put 

 up records equal to the best herein published, by merely giving the 

 same feed. It might deceive the novice, but never any man who has 

 had even a short experience of herd testing. To excel, then, dairymen 

 have no alternative but to test their cows. Wlien the various capacities 

 of the animals have thus been ascertained, culling should begin at the 

 bottom. The remainder should be mated with onh' a pure bull from 

 antecedents of known butter-producing capacity. In this way each 

 generation is a step forward. " Known butter-producing capacity " 

 does not mean merely an owner's assurance; he may know as little 

 about it as the intending purchaser. An authentic guide to the merits 

 of a bull's dam is the returns periodically published in this journal — 

 that is, provided she has been entered for oflici.Tl testing. Failing this, 

 it is only guess work, and dairymen are strongly advised to make use of 

 the Government Stardard Test instituted solely for their benefit. Each 

 year's work is published annually in the September Journal of Agriciil- 

 ture, and the figures speak for themselves. 



Standard Cow Prizes. 



The following are the prizes offered by the (xovemment for the year 

 ended .'50th June. 1917. The prizes will be awarded through the Royal 

 Agricultural Society : — 



(1) Grand Champion Cow — under Herd Test regulations. 



A grand champion prize of £100 as a trophy or ca.sh for 

 maintaining the position of annual champion for three successive 

 years. Not yet allotted. 



(2) Annual Champion Coiv- — under Herd Test regulations. 



A prize of £25, to be awarded to the cow which, on com- 

 pletion of lactation period, gives the greatest amount of butter fat 

 under the herd testing regulations of this Department during a 

 lactation period terminating within a year ending 30th June. If 

 two lactation periods are completed within the year, the last will 

 be the period considered. 



Won by "Mercedes Noble Queen "; owner, Mr. C. D. Lloyd. 



