252 



The Journal of Heredity 



VOUXG cows KXCU'ED RKoLIkl'.MKNTS 



Possibly the most important [xiint 

 developed in this study is that one- and 

 two-year-old cows greatly exceed their 

 requirements. It has been prescribed 

 that two-year-olds shall produce '2'A).ri 

 pounds of fat in a year. We hnd that 

 they actually produce 359.2 pounds of 

 fat. 250 pounds is 69.7% of 359 

 pounds. In other words these cows pro- 

 duce, in round numbers, 30% more tlian 

 required. As they grow older the i)er- 

 centage of excess declines year after 

 }ear, until the ten-year-old cows, thai 

 are rec|uired to produce 360 pounds 

 of fat, produce actually 463 pounds. 

 360 pounds is 78% of 463 pounds, and 

 these old cows only exceed require- 

 ments, therefore, by 22%. Under the 

 present rules the younger cows liave an 

 advantage. If it is desired to standard- 

 ize the matter so that cows of various 

 ages shall have to produce a quantity of 

 fat in proportion to their demonstrated 

 capacity, then a standard similar to that 

 in column 1) should be adopted. 



Refer first to column A. The two- 

 year old cows have been used as a 

 standard, and column B constructed. 

 Their standard of 250.5 pounds is 30% 

 below their actual production of 359 

 ])ounds fat. The standard for ten-year- 

 old cows, 360 pounds, is 22% below 

 actual production of 463.8 pounds. In 

 other words, to give them a similar 

 standard to the two-year-olds would 

 mean that they be required to yield 323 



pounds of fat. Or, if we put the young 

 cows on the same basis as the old cows 

 and allow two-year-olds a dilYerential of 

 only 22% of their actual produc- 

 tion, then the requirements for two- 

 year-olds should be raised to 280 

 pounds of fat. As an average the 

 standard is 25% less than production, 

 and we lia\e arranged coUuun D on 

 that basis. The standard in column 

 1) would be more fair and just to 

 all ages than the |irescnt standard, if 

 (lur rcc<ir(l>, cni])racing 865 A cows 

 are sufficiently extensive to justify 

 a conclusion. We believe more of the 

 old cows would be found in the vol- 

 umes if this standard, given in column 

 D, were adopted. 



I'KorU.lCMS SATISFACTORILY KXI'I.AINKD 



The reason we made this study was 

 that we believed the young cows have 

 an advantage, and we are sustained by 

 the data reported upon, but the error 

 is not a serious one. We believed also 

 that it was not very difficult for a cow 

 to carry a calf and produce as large a 

 test as an open cow. Here we were 

 mistaken, because the data show that 

 the AA cows work at some disadvan- 

 tage, and should receive more honor for 

 making a test that will qualify them 

 for entry in the Register of Merit. We 

 congratulate the American Jersey Cat- 

 tle Club on the accuracy and correctness 

 of the principle on which the work is 

 based and carried out. 



