give the families variations in the tests made the dif ferent months? Prof. Woll-It is difficult yes often impossible, to account for the change; in the percentage of butter fat in The subject assigned to me, or the the milk during the progress of the time at my disposal, does not permit lactation period. We have found that of my dwelling further on this phase cows in a heavy condition of flesh of the dairyman's business, but after calving are likely to start in will be clear to all who will give the with a very high per cent of fat in matter some thought, that by the at their milk and the per cent will drov tainment of facts regarding the regularly for a week or two till the actual milk and butter fat production normal quality of the milk of the of dairy cows, through this system o! cow is reached. There are other cows official testing, and by publication of that will start in quite low and will these facts among dairymen, material gradually come up to a higher per is furnished for learning the capabil centage of fat in their milk, and we ties of certain individuals, have no assurance that the sania and breeds for dairy production which thing will occur the next time the will aid in rendering the work of the cow comes in. Each cow seems to breeder of dairy cattle less uncertain be a law unto herself in regard to and will enable him to improve is that matter. We do know this much herd with considerable more assur- that when cows freshen in a good ance of success than was possible condition of body flesh, they are ap before this system had been estab-to give milk of a somewhat higher lished. An official test of a heavy-percentage than producing cow is of direct money value to a breeder, as it increases the price he can get for her or her off spring; but more than this, it funishes him with exact information !! regard to the ability of certain cows and families to do excellent work in a dairy line. It will therefore be of the highest value to him in this line of building up his herd and main taining a high standard of production by his cows. normal, and will come down to a Mr. Scribner-There are very many cows that give a larger daily yield than this cow did, but where this cow showed her good qualities was her everlasting sticking-to-it all through the year, and giving more milk a year from the time she fresi ened than she did at the time she freshened. She was giving more milk at the time she ought to have been dry than when she first freshened. This is a remarkable case. Supt. McKerrow-Is farrow cow? that cow 2 Prof. Woll-She is believed to in calf and due to calf about the end | 1905. Mr. Scribner-When she first came The actual quantities of mlik produced per day for different months may, of course, be found by dividing this amount by 30 or 31, as the case may be, and you notice she had the highest production for any one month during the month of August, when she was 11 months from calving. Mr. Goodrich-Doesn't this indicate that nothing short of a yeari test proves the value of a cow for dairy work? We know that the one day's test is of scarcely any value, and that a weekly test is not of much value, and even a test taken at the middle of the period of lactation, say, four or five months from the time of calyfollowing daying, doesn't tell a good many thing, when made by the average man. Some cows start in with a heavy flow and begin to dry up much earlier thin others. This is one of the kind that keeps right on, her last month just as good as the first month. Prof. Woll-This ought to be re- This Prof. Woll-I agree with you that the true criterion of the value of a cow for dairy production is to make the test throughout the year. system of semi-official testing for yearly records that we have established at our station is, in my opinion superior to anything else in that line Mr. Goodrich-I commenced years ago to test my own cows, and the The Chairman-Isn't it a fact that she gave more milk the last fifteen days than she did the first fifteen days; that is, counting from Septem-cow that for the first month produced ber 15th to October 1st, 1904, she did give not as much milk from September 15, 1905 to October 1, 1905? Prof. Woll-Yes, that is true; the breeder naturally wishes to make the best showing for the cow he can, and therefore selects the twelve coa secutive months during which the highest production occurred. The cow did not do as well in the nineteen days that were left of September 1904 as in the corresponding days of the following year, so her record began on the 1st of October, 1904 and ended on the 30th of September, more than any other cow, for the whole year couldn't pay for her feel, did not produce anywhere near as much as some other cow that did a great deal poorer to start on. It is the COW that keeps on steadily through the year that pays. A Member-How does the milk of a heifer compare in quality with the milk from older cows? Prof. Woll-It is hardly safe to lay down general rules in regard to cows, for there are So many exceptions; but we find when we consider the averages for a large number of animals, that heifers er cows. give a little tests along in the life of each cow Mr. Jacobs-From what was brought out here of the value of the yearly test and the uncertainty of this cow being in calf at this time, I think it will indicate the necessity not only of yearly tests, but of tests being taken continually year after year. Now, it is quite possible that if this cow is farrow at this time, the next year's test would be very much against her; that is, if she had a calf once a year, that she could not make a good test. Another point, don't you think, Professor, that she has shown her inherent ability to produce milk of that percentage, but the weight of the milk is something that might vary very much from year to year; that she might give milk of very much less quantity another year, but the quality would probably be about the same? Prof. Woll-Yes, the per cent of fat in her milk would not be likely to vary materially from year to year; that is, if she is in fairly good condition of flesh all the time. Prof. Hays-If you had the tests of the cows in a herd for their second, third or fourth periods of lactation for the entire period, wouldn't that be sufficient to give you the practical valuation of the different cows? The question is, if we could carry those Prof. Hays-Could that not be abused by breeders making records for their cows which might not hold another year? Prof. Woll-Yes, certainly. It is a point for the farmer to inquire into, the exact conditions under which a test was made. I take it there is no excuse for a man to buy a cow on the strength of the results of a test that he does not look into. Prof. Hays-How many herds of 20 cows each could one inspector handle? Could he handle 20 heris? Prof. Woll-Yes, he could in the state of Wisconsin; he probably could not in Texas. Mr. Convey-I would like to ask the professor about the test where they tested Shorthorns for three consecutive years and kept getting better results. Was it because that cow was maturing, or that you got her well started? Prof. Woll-We have had cows that did their best work the first year and gradually came down, and we have had other cows that have kept [penses for each month and divide the improving for several years. From total expense by the number of herds our records, I could give you illustra-in which tests are made and charge tions of all possible experiences in each breeder an equivalent for the that line. You have to consider a traveling expenses. That will amount large number of tests in order to to between $2 and $3 a month, so you draw any general conclusions or can test 10 cows for $3; that is, $36 rules as to changes in the production for the year, and say $2.50 for of cows under different conditions. traveling expenses; that will make Supt. McKerrow-Isn't it possible the expense of testing ten COWS that in this case the system of feed-a year less than $70, or about $7 a ing, the feeder and the milker has head. something to do with it? Mrs. Lehmann-And it will cost about the same to test one cow in one herd? Prof. Woll-Yes; Prof. Woll-That certainly is true; those factors very likely were of the utmost importance in bringing about the yearly record of Yeksa Sunbeam. I think it only fair to say that the results obtained on this test could never have been obtained except be kept occupied and under approximately ideal condi- the work. tions; they were as nearly ideal as our man is there and he can just as well test ten cows as one; in fact, he had better test a larger number than one, so he may interested in A Member-How often should milk Prof. Woll-Once every week, ten days or two weeks, as agreed upon; but that is another question. can ever be hoped to be reached. be tested at the cheese factory and The cow had alfalfa and clover pas- | creamery? ture in abundance throughout the season, and with other test cows she was taken from one pasture to another every couple of weeks, and the clover pastures, at least in the month of August, at the time of my visit there, were as rich as any I have seen for years. Furthermore, only the best of feeds were given the cow throughout the year, so she was placed under very nearly ideal conditions in the feed line. Mr. Nordman-This COW whose picture is before us is now credited with being the best cow in the world for butter fat production, though we know that there are other cows that did as well, but those cows are with calf surely, so the comparison is not quite fair, is it? Prof. Woll-No; we all understand that. Mr. Convey-What do you consider to be the best condition for a cow at calving time, one in plump or thin Mr. Scott-Don't you think the superiority of the northern Wisconsia grasses had a good deal to do with the record made by the cow? Prof. Woll-You have the right to condition? 'draw that conclusion. Mrs. Lehmann-What is the age expense of testing a cow? Prof. Woll-At the present time, aver-after the use of the bicycle pump has become quite well known as a remedy Prof. Woll-On the Guernsey tests. for milk fever, there is not so much our men are at the farm one day danger in having the cows in a fleshy each month and they are only allowed condition at calving time, as was forto test 10 cows at a time. The ex- merly the case; now we rather prepenses amount to $3 and traveling ex-fer to have them in rather good body penses. We make these tests in a condition, it is apt to increase the per circuit, add up all the traveling ex- cent of fat during the following lac tation period. Previously, there was danger of milk fever if cows were fed much grain directly before calving; now that danger is largely removed. A Member-How many cows can be tested at a time on the official seven or thirty day tests? Prof. Woll-Six COWS. A good many of the cows placed on official tests are milked four times a day, and nearly all the others are milked three times a day, for at least seven days. We have found that six cows are as many as one man can take care of under these conditions and keep his records up to date. A Member-Then the expense Iwould be the same for testing cow as it would on six? Prof. Woll-Yes, sir. one do Mrs. Howie-What difference you find in the yield of cows per year whether they come in in the fall or in the spring? Prof. Woll-We have not obtained any data on that point in this work, but it is generally conceded that fall cows will do best. You have all the conditions better in hand during the fall than you have during the sum best the latter part of the summer; fly. time is the hardest time of the year for the cows, and if they are nearly fresh during the latter part of the summer, their flow of milk will be likely to be decreased for the whole remaining part of their lactation period. The hot weather cannot do so much harm in the case of fall-calv ing cows whose production at this time of the year is low anyway. The | results may therefore be expected from cows that calve in the fall, because the highest production then comes at a time when the cows can be kept comfortable and fed such combinations of feeds that will be likely to produce the maximum yields of milk and butter fat of which the cows are capable. Besides, under this system of dairying, the highest production comes at the time of the year when the highest prices are paid for dairy products. The Chairman-This Round-up Institute is highly favored over some of our previous Institutes, from the fact of the valuable help we are getting from the Department of Agri culture at Washington, and happy in hearing again from Profesmer months, and especially during sor Hays at this time. we are PLANT AND ANIMAL IMPROVEMENT. Prof. W. M. Hays, Ass't Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Never in the world was there such | dollars worth a time for the organization of an dustry as we now have in American agriculture. These are piping times of peace. We are producing annually six billions worth of farm prod. ucts. Statistics produced in the last five years from 45,000 farmers, show that the selling value of the farin lands of this country has increased more than 33 per cent. The next census four years hence will no doubt show that instead of 20 billion of farm property, we shall run up somewhere between 25 and 30 billions. Out of the six billion dollars worth of farm products produced by our people, there are fully five-sixths of that which are subject to the opera tion of the breeder, the plant breeder and the animal breeder. In indivi ual cases as, for instance, with dairy cattle, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes and a great lot of other plants and animals, it has been definitely proven |