Research Seeks Better Alfalfa Alfalfa seedlmgs are under scrutiny for varietal differ ences at the Agricultural*Ex pel iment Station, the Penn sylvania State University All alfalfa seed look alike, Guy W. McKee superinten dent of the Station Seed Ser vice comments,' but plants of certain varieties have meas urable and observable differ ences Much alfalfa seed is sold under variety names but is not Certified. If particular varieties or mixtures could be recognized while growing n the field much misunder standing and some times downright deception could be prevented, he believes. Certi fied seed is best because it NOW! at Farm Bureau SEA-BORN NORWEGIAN SEAWEED MEAL "SEA-BORN” AND 100% EXCELLENT SOURCE OF VITAMINS AND AMINO ACIDS IN THEIR NATURAL STATE. Used successfully by fruit vegetable and flower growers. "Sea-Born" is an excellent wholly organic soil conditioner - - - contains Nitrogen. Phosphorus, Potash,. trace elements and natural growth stimulants. "Sea-Bom" Feed Supplement provides minerals, vitamins and amino acids in their natural state and is absolutely non- toxic. GET THE DETAILS NOW from your Farm Bureau FIELD MAN or visit the Farm Bureau Store nearest you. Lancaster EX 4 0541 New Holland ELgin 4-2146 must come from a field that has been inspected by disin terested officials, in Pennsyl vania supplied by the State Dept of Agriculture. The value of improved forage crop varieties may be largely lost if varietal mix mixture and hybridization are not controlled, Dr. Mc- Kee emphasizes Field trials, suefi as those under way with alfalfa, are necessary to verify evaluations made in laboratories, greenhouses, and growth chambers Seed ling plants of some alfalfa varieties are recognizable while quite small, he points out Others must be allowed to flower before indentfica tion can be positive. Dr McKee’s work in alfal fa identification is part of a project in which scientists at the New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Maine sta- IS WHOLLY ORGANIC NON-TOXIC HORTICULTURAL GRADE ANIMAL GRADE iC. CO u '#Af BUP& 1 tions are cooperating. Varie ties under study include Ver nal, Narragansett, DuPuits, and Williamsburg Comparable observations of flower color, time of flower ing, plant type, height, leaf color, coarseness of stem, disease infestation, spring vigor, and fall dormancy will be made. In a fall manage ment experiment, effects of three cutting dates, Sept. 15 22 and 29, will be compared under varying climatic con ditions. Elmstone Major’s Mary Rose, a ten-year-old Ayrshire cow owned by Masonic Farm Elizabethown, has a record of 12,465 lbs milk and 518 lbs butterfat on 2x, 305 days got everything we we wouldn’t like had. If we wanted, what we . ... AN MINERALS. Manheim MOhawk 5-2466 Quarryville STerling 6-2126 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 28. 1961 Use Superior Sires Don't Cull Low Producers The value ot superior progeny- tested bulls in raising dairy herd production is demonstrated by a recently com pleted 35-year Holstem-Fnesian breeding experiment, the U. S Department of Agriculture reports. Experiment records indi- in production from 200 to cate that production by the 900 pounds in their best progeny of low-producing year, with a group average dairy cows will use to the of 617 pounds, herd average in a few gene- An estimate was made of rations if good transmitting the herd production that sixes are used On the basis would have been possible if of this finding, Milton H low-producing cows and their Fohrman, leader of the decendants had been culled, trials at USDA’s Agricultur- Twenty-one cows produced al Research Center, Belts- less than 425 pounds of but ville, Md, advises dairymen terfat during their best years to save the daughters ot low- Culling all their daughters producing cows, if the herd would have removed 176 sires used are production cows that averaged 661 lbs. proved. No important bene- of fat. The 215 cows that fit to herd production seems would have remained in the to result from culling these herd averaged 651 lbs. of daughteis, he says, although fat. The theoretically - cull it is wise to cull their low- ed herd actually outproduc producing mothers. ed the remaining herd, dem- This long-term experiment covered eight generations of un-culled, unselected cows Only sires were selected. All heifers were raised and de veloped, regardless of their appearance or producing a bility. They were housed, fed, and managed uniformly during the entire test period. Use of proven sires re sulted in rapid improvement in butterfat production (the basis of comparison in this herd) for the first five gene rations. The herd’s yearly fat production increased fr om an average of 530 lbs. per cow to 703 lbs in the first five generations, but in creased to only 711 lbs. in the last three generations. Transmission of product ion characteristics from dam to -daughter is not always consistent, test records show ed. Even when using proved bulls, the highest producing j cows do not always have the [highest producing daughters. lln the experiments only 15 | per cent of the daughters attained the same product -1 ion class as their dams. There were 193 daughters of cows that produced more than 650 pounds of butterfat each during their best pro duction year. These daugh ters ranged in production from 200 to 900 pounds, with an average of 693 pounds. The 194 daughters of cows that produced less than 650 pounds of butterfat ranged SAMPLE COPIES FREE Copies of LANCASTER FARMING are not always * easy to find—they are not sold on newsstands—and perhaps some of your friends may not be acquainted with our weekly service. , We’ll be glad to send, without charge, several copies of LANCASTER FARMING to your friends or business associates. Just write their names and ad dresses below —(You’ll be doing both them and us a favor!) Street Address & R. D, City Street Address & R. D City (You are not limited to two names. Use separate sheet for additional names.) Your Name Address [ ] CHECK here if you prefer to send a Year’s (52 issues) GIFT subscription for $2 each to your friends listed above. If so $. enclosed, or [ ] Bill me later. (Each will receive a colorful gift announcement card.) Please mail this form to; LANCASTER FARMING oastrating again that heifer selection is not very effect ive "when based on the level of dam production. The Beltsville Holsteins are now among the highest producing unculled cows in the world. New experiments are underway at Beltsville to see if further 'improve ment m herd production is possible. A search is being made also for breeding me thods that will increase their production. Some of the cows are be ing mated to the very best Holstein proved sires in the U S and Canada through artificial insemination. For merly, the herd sires were limited to bulls at the Ag ricultural Research Center or in nearby artificial insemi nation organizations. By searching over most of North America for sires, the USDA scientists hope to find some whose genes will amplify the production characteristics of the herd Another new experiment involves the use of the best sires of other dairy breeds to find out if cross-breeding will increase production in the herd. Still another - c penment involves use of se lected progeny-tested bulls, which are off-spring of the Beltsville cows. In these ex periments, production com parisons will be made on the basis of whole milk rather than butterfat pro duction. State • State CIRCULATION DEPT. P. O. BOX 1524 LANCASTER. PENNA. 5
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers