1090 



England's First Calf Club. 



[Mar., 



a calf, for which the parents give a promissory note, and will 

 have charge of it for a year, when all the calves will be examined 

 by experts and prizes will be awarded to those members who 

 obtain for their animals the highest number of points. If the 

 rearers then wish to retain the calves they may do so, on redemp- 

 tion of the promissory notes. If they do not wish to keep them, 

 the calves will be put up for auction and members will receive 

 the difference between their original and present value. The 

 calves, which are Shorthorns, have been selected from cows with 

 good milk records, from 600 to 1.000 gallons annually. 



A great stimulus has been given to the movement by the pub- 

 licity it has received. The youthful members and their calves 

 were photographed in the market place and these photographs 

 have been very widely circulated through the Press. At an 

 inaugural lunch, over which the youthful Chairman of the Calf 

 Club presided. Mr. C. Carew. Member of Parliament for the 

 Tiverton Division, expressed his pride in being the first M.P. 

 in the British Isles to have the opportunity of attending such a 

 function. It was pointed out in subsequent speeches that the 

 whole object of the Club was to improve milk production, both 

 in quantity and quality, and that Hemyock had not only estab- 

 lished its claim to a place on the map, but had inaugurated in 

 England a movement that would in all probability be followed 

 throughout Great Britain, with great advantage to the general 

 public and the dairying industry. In connection with the work 

 of the Club, Mr. J. Mackintosh, of the Research Institute in 

 Dairying. University College, Reading, delivered a lecture to 

 the members on the proper methods of calf-rearing, pointing 

 out the importance of light, airy and well-ventilated pens, dry 

 floors, preferably of hard earth, cleanliness of the food supplied, 

 and regularity in feeding. It is understood that the United 

 Dairies, Limited, are associated with, and taking an active 

 interest in this movement. In the United States of America, 

 the policv of interesting children in live stock has been pursued 

 successfully for a considerable time, and there are throughout 

 the States many Agricultural Clubs entirely under the control 

 of school boys and school girls. The idea is one that deserves 

 encouragement, and it is safe to say that in the work just 

 undertaken in Devonshire we have the beginning of a move- 

 ment likely to enjoy a widespread development. 



