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DRY- FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



have elected a captain, and his name is the Cow Tester, and his association 

 the Cow Test Association. 



There have been a number of of different plans proposed for the or- 

 ganization of cow-testing associations, but of them all none is probacy any- 

 better than that proposed by Helmer Rabild of the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. The method and plan of organizing as recommended 

 by Mr. Rabild is essentially as follows: 



The usual way of organizing an association has been to ascertain the 

 extent of the interest in dairying in a community and to call a meeting and 

 explain the merits of the cow-testing association as an institution. If enough 

 interest is exhibited to warrant going on with the work, a temporary or- 

 ganization is effected, and the neighborhood is thoroughly canvassed during 

 the following few days in search of additional members for the association. 

 When enough have been secured a second meeting is called, at which the 

 organization is perfected, officers elected, and by-laws adopted. 



In order to support a cow-testing association it is necessary that there 

 should be 26 herds, conveniently located, and a sufficient number of cow^, 

 so that the tester can get a reasonable salary. As it is each member's duty 

 to furnish the tester's conveyance to his next place of work, it is necessary 

 that the farms of the members be located near enough together so he can 

 be conveyed without inconvenience. A distance of two miles is not too great 

 to give satisfaction, and the conveyance is often furnished by some passer- 

 by. If the cow-tester keeps his own horse and buggy, as is the case in 

 some associations, a larger territory is usually accommodated. In such 

 cases the members must furnish feed and stabling for his horse. The charge 

 to the farmer is usually $1 a year for each cow. The money constitutes 

 the pay of the tester; and it is desirable that there should be not less than 

 400 cows in an association, in which case the tester gets $400 a year. In ad- 

 dition he gets his board and lodging free of charge at the farm where he is 

 working. There being only 26 working days in a month, it is not possible 

 to have more than 26 members, except in cases where two men with small 

 herds live very close together, so that it is possible to test both herds in 

 one day. On such farms the regular milking time is fixed so that the 

 tester can attend to the weighing and testing in the first herd and still have 

 plenty of time to get to the second herd by the regular milking hour. In 

 addition to the $1 a cow, the farmer pays a membership fee of 25 cents 

 yearly. This money, which for 26 members amounts to $6.50, is used for 

 paying incidental expenses, postage, cost of sulphuric acid, etc. 



Perhaps the most important result of the cow-testing associations is 

 the increased interest which members take in their work. Farm work, con- 

 sisting as it does in large part of manual labor, is apt to become monotonous 

 unless there is an intelligent interest in the operations and unless the farmer 

 has something special in view. The monthly visit of the cow tester stimu- 

 lates this interest; and while the primary object for which the association 

 was organized is the selection and rejection of individual animals, the re- 

 sults, direct and indirect, cover a very broad field. 



The tester, being an expert dairyman, not only studies the individual 



