Norwich bulletin., 1917-08-18
FOURTH ROUND OF
 COW TESTING COMPLETED
General Purpose Is To Promote Dairy
 Interests of the Farmer.

The fourth round of COW testing i having been completed the tester is | in a position to tell what a COW test
 association is what it does for the
 dairyman and benefits accruing from | it.
 1 The general purpose for which the 1 work is done is to promote the dairy l interests of the farmer and articular- 1 ly to provide means ard methods for | testing the milk of the cows periodi- calIy and to keep farm records in or 1 der that the farmer be able to plan i each years farm business better than the business of the year before. It l assists him in locating the leaks, which by stopping may materially in | crease his labor income without addi- tional labor or income. It assists the farmer in terpreting the results of his years business and in reorganizing his business for grea ter profits.
 The pricicDle on which these asso- citations work is both extremely sim pie and vet important. Year after year many farmers milk cows that do not pay for the. feed they consume To make his herd a success. therefore, the farmer must weed out the animals that are coasting him money and keep
 those that are bringing 1t in to him.
 This. however. is not so easy it may
 seem. Experiments continually show
 that it is impossible for any man,
 however experienced he may be, to es-
 timate with any accuracy the yearly
 production of milk from any cow
 The main purpose of a cow testing
 association is to enable it's members
 to hire a tester to keep the records
 which in practice it is almost impos-
 Hble for the farmer to keep for, him.
 self. The tester arrives at the farm
 in time for the afternoon milking.
 weighs the milk given by each cow
 in the herd and takes a sample Of. it
 10 test for butterfat. At feeding time
 he weighs the feed given each COW
 and estimates as well the amount cf roughage. He also keeps a record of feed given to dry cows as we'll as those in milk for 1t is necessary that
 the total cost of feed for the year be
 determined. The following morning the individual production of the herd is weighed again and if the ration is changed the feed also is weighed. Lat CT in the day the Babcock test is used to determine the percentage of butter fat in each cows milk. Careful tests have shown that the results are within 2 per cent of the cows actual production. Another feature of the testing work is to watch the prices of various feelings and then to work out for the farmer the most economical ra- ton. On the testers first trip he takes m inventory of the stock, land. build ings, machinery. crops. expenditures and receipts and each month there after enter in to the farmers account book any expenditure and receipts handled during the month making a grand summary at the close of the year.
 The day on which the test Is made is called the testing day and the records obtained on that dav are used as a unit for each day in the testing period l The yiefls of milk ard butterfat are 1 found by multiplying the yield on the testing day by number of days in the | month.
 Perhaps the most important results 1 of cow-testing is the increa sed inter- | est which members take in their work 1 It has a stimulating effect upon the l farmer as the knowledge Is brought home to him that his profits are de- 1 pendent upon his skill as a feeder and | the sagacity with which he selects low priced but proper feeds to balance the ration
 County Agent Warner has completed some of his plans for the farm bureau exhibit at the New London County Fair to be held at Norwich. There will be a dairy exhibit to illustrate the principles embodied In test your cows" The farm bureau tent will be headquarters for all dairymen who visit the fair and want to get in touch with each other. Assistant County Agent Whitman will be on hand to | test all milk brought in by the farmers wishing to know the butterfat test Of his favorite COW or herd. The princi-