Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1922-11-15
Milk Production

OSuc ana StarlanQ Revue.
Milk Production
t(continued from Page one)
this county. The same thing is true
of many other counties in the state.
Cows of good quality are essential
to success in dairying as shown by
the same records kept on the As
farms in this county. If these farms
are divided into three groups, those
with low producing herds, those with
medium producers and those with
high producers, we And a very dis
tinct effect upon the labor income.
The farms having low producers paid
but $50 labor income per farm.
Farms with medium producers paid
$3.50 and farms with good producers
paid an average OF 1854.
F.. From these records we would
naturally conclude that under pres
cnt conditions poor producers are
improbable to maintain and they
should be eliminated from the herd
and only those retained that will pay
a reasonable return.
Inheritance Milk Yield Dairy Cattle
The following is from the address
gwen before the Association by DR..
John w. Gowen. Maine Agricultural
Experiment Station:
In dairy cattle breeding three
problems appear to be of the greatest
practical Importance 10 the dairy cat
tie breeder /. Is the milk yield or
IL COW determined by her sire either
in whole or in part. 2. Is the milk
Yield of COW determined by her
dam either in whole or in part? 5.
DO the grandparents or ancestors
further removed have any marked
influence on the milk yields of their
Granddaughters? These three prob
lens are equally important for the
butter fat percentage of the milk
produced. Without going into the
details of the proof of these ques-
tions, they were answered by the
Maine Agricultural Experiment Sta
TONS work Of the past year as shown
by the report of this work given be-
fore the State Dairymen's Associa-
ton at Lewiston. The answer to the
first problem is that the bull and COW
fer the milk yields and butter fat
percentages of their daughters. 1t is
further proved that any grand-par-
ont is only one half as effective as a
parent in determining the milk yield
OF their rand-daughters. The great
grandparents have only slight value
in showing what the milk yield Of
their great-grand-daugh will be.
Some very significant facts follow
at once from the proof of these facts.
1t is clear that in studying a pedi-
gree to determine the probable worth
OF a cow as a milk or butter fat pro-
Queer that over seventy percent of
the emphasis should be given to the
study of the two parents, about
twenty-five percent to the study of
the milk yields and butter-fat per-
cottages of the grandparents and
only about five percent to the ances-
tors further removed Such then is
the proper basis for pedigree study
when it is desired to accomplish re-
suits in breeding for high milk yield
and butter-fat percentage. 1t fur
Their explains why up to the present
no better progress has been made
in this breeding for high milk yields
as in practically every pedigree study.
as now carried on, the emphasis is
placed on famous ancestors in the
third and fourth generation with Of
ten total disregard of the immediate
parents and grandparents.
Another point is further brought
cut as following directly from these
facts. A daughters record for milk
Yield and buttcr-fact percentage is
worth more in telling what a sire
Will do to the milk yield and butter
fat percentage of all his daughters
than is any knowledge of the per-
Torrance of his parents Particular
ly is this true of the cases where the
daughter comes from q COW whose
mill: yields and butter fat percent
ages are also known.
OF most immediate practical value
in determining the milk record OF a
cow is milk record of her mother If
this milk record is high it is a pretty
safe assertion that the milk record of
the daughter will also be high. A
similar statement could also be made
about the butter fat percentage.
In studies on Holstein- Friesian ad-
vanced registry cattle it has been
shown how these and many other
possibilities flow from the establish
ing of these facts. Given the milk
record of one of these advanced
registry cows you can tell what the
milk record of her sister will be. II
the COW has a daughter you can also
tell the milk record of her daughter.
Should the sire have a daughter with
q record you will know whether this
sire should be bred to more COWS or
discarded at once. Condensed and
incomplete summary though this is.
the importance of the work stands
out as second to none not even in
those states which are spending ten
times as much on their Experiment
Stations as is being spent by the
State Of Maine. Already the Agri-
cultural Colleges have turned to the
Maine Station for the facts on
which to base their teaching of dairy
cattle breeding. Teachers, investi-
gators<and practical cattle breeders
in the countries of Europe as Eng
land, Switzerland. Norway. France.
Denmark and others come to the
Maine Station searching reports of
these latest discoveries.
The afternoon session, Tuesday,