Yerington times. [volume] (Yerington, Nev.) 1907-1932, 1913-10-18
COW-TESTING ASSOCIATION Is
NEEDED HERE.
What Such Associations Have Done
for Other Countries.

of necessity. This movement began
III 1917, when the State Counselor, b.
Bogid, at a meeting OF the kilde-
brond Creamery patrons in July of
that year explained how records OF
the individual performances OF the
COWS could be obained. and the result
was that fourteen farmers agreed to
weigh the milk from each COW and
send samples of it to the creamery.
The creamery manager. Mr.. Hansen.
determined its richness by the Fjord
centrifugal cream tester and published
the record of the milk and butter yield
form each COW. as well as the feed
consumed Shortly thereafter. and as
a result of this. those men who had
kept records formed the kildebrond
Bull Association. with the object of
improving their herds. State Counse
lor, Frederick Hansen. a dairy expert
employed by the government and the
owner of dairy farm. had for several
wears studied the richness of the milk
OF individual cows by occasionally
taking samples to the creamery for
testing. and he had begun wedding out
all the animals in his herd which gave
poor milk. thereby increasing the rich
ness OF the herds milk His neigh
bors. who sent milk to the same
crcmcrv, noticing the increase III
richness OF the milk from his herd. be
gan to inquire into the cause OF IT.
and when sufficient interest had been
developed Mrs Hansen. his wife.
suggested that an ASSOCIATION be
formed in the neighborhood for he
purpose of investigating the richness
OF the milk OF the individual cows
and the economy of their production
so that each member OF the associa
tion might obtain the same benefit
that Mr.. Hansen had derived from
such investigation.
1t is interesting to notice the rapid
growth OF the movement and the con
idence the farmers put i'll IT. In 1898
there existed but two cow-testing as
sociations in Denmark: in 1909 there
were $50. with an average member
ship OF twenty-five members, and the
movement had spread To other coun-
tries. so that in 1909 Germany had
POI associations: Sweden 662 associ-
tions: Norway l46 Finland %: Rus
sia g and Scotland l3.
The primarv purpose OF the COW
testing movement was 10 obtain rec
and butter from each individual COW
in the herds of the members, and with
this data as basis. by the selection
of the best producing cows Tor breed
ing purposes. to develop a strain ot
COW which would produce a large
auantitv of milk rich in butterfat.
The difficulty has been To devise a
system whereby the Improbable
COWS might be detected 1t is a com
mon belief among farmers that the
man who does the milking knows the
best COWS in the herd. As well as the
poorest ones: but numerous expert
mentS have demonstrated clearly that
tbs belief is not warranted Many
factors enter to lead the judgment
astray The COW which gives gen
crous flow of milk during the first few
weeks OF her period Of lactation Is
usually regarded as the best COW. She
may soon go down in the flow OF milk,
and oerhaps goes dry for three or
four months OF the wear. but this is
not observed. and only the large flow
she gave when fresh remains in the
memory OF the owner Another COW
may give only a fair flow OF mix
when she first comes in. and may not
he regarded highly by the owner, but
she may continue AT the same rate OF
yield for a long period, and will IN the
end prove great deal more Valu-
able than the other COW.
No mixer can tell. without weigh
ing the milk regularly, whether a COW
gives 6,0O0 or 5000 pounds OF milk III
a year. still the difference may prove
the difference between proht and loss
on that particular COW.
The cow-tcsting movement. being
an organized effort for Improvement.
is conducive TO better community
spirit. The systematic and co-opera-
tive effort exerts an interest III the
growing OF better forage crops ana IN
better feeding: il opens the eyes OF
the farmers TO the value OF system
in their work and leads to the appli-
cation OF better business methods.
The work. broad as it is. has value
not only for the farmer. but also tor
the creamery. since il encourages bet
ter dairy methods. AT the same time IT
procures larger remuneration tor the
dairyman
shall finally give some figures
Gust a few from cow-testing asso-
Citations in operation IN Denmark
and Scotland.
A Danish expert in an article pub.
lshed in journal of the Board oi
Agriculture, states that the average
butterfat produced BY each COW III
Denmark is 220 pounds per year and
that the average amount produced by
the 10000 cows in the cow-testing as
sociations is 2S5 pounds of butterfat
per COW. He further says that a
number of the best herds average
$40 pounds OF butterfat per COW per
wear. This is butterfat, not butter
The record published by the Ayrshire
breeds. of Scotland. gives the records
of all cows in their test associations
which produce over 2sS pounds ot
huteriat. Cows that produce less than
that are not mentioned at all. Heifers
are el;o;blc for mention II they pro
duce 200 pounds of butterfat per