THIRTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVENTION 271 



What this breeder has clone other breeders can do, but it will take 

 time and careful selection. 



The cost of official testing prohibits many men from enter- 

 ing their cows for advanced register, and others hesitate be- 

 cause they cannot see the real value or immediate returns. In 

 most cases it is soon repaid in increased returns from animals 

 sold. Where official records cannot be made, private records 

 should be kept, which will be practically as valuable for breeding 

 purposes but will not be as fully credited by prospective buyers. 

 The majority of the tests made in the state thus far have been 

 short-time official tests. While these are useful they are by 

 no means as valuable as the semi-official or yearly tests. The 

 true value of a cow is shown by what she can produce in one 

 or more years and not in a few days' time under heavy feeding. 

 It freqently happens that cows which will not make a sufficient 

 amount of butter fat to be admitted to the Advanced Register 

 on a seven-day test will make much more than enough to admit 

 them on a yearly record, and it often happens that cows which 

 make large seven day records make small yearly records. Pre- 

 vious to September, 19 10, about twenty-nine breeders in Illi- 

 nois had tested one or more cows ; of these, one Holstein-Fries- 

 ian, one Jersey, one Brown Swiss, and four Guernsey breeders 

 conducted yearly, or semi-official, tests. From that date to Sep- 

 tember 1, 191 1, nine other breeders have had tests conducted. 

 There are but few seven or thirty-clay records of high quality, 

 as will be seen in the tables, which show the tests completed 

 prior to September 1, 191 1. 



Semi-Official Records. 



The semi-official, or yearly, records are conducted in the 

 following manner: The owner of the cow keeps a careful 

 record of the pounds of milk produced at each milking. At the 

 end of each month this record is sent to the secretary of the 

 breed association with which these cattle are registered. At some 

 time during each month a representative from the agricultural 

 experiment station visits the farm and conducts a two clays' test. 

 Upon arrival the representative sees that the cow is milked 



