In the early years of the present century dairy control, based on the principles followed in Denmark, was introduced in these three territories of the present Republic of Czechoslovakia. The work was carried on by voluntary associations, with the financial aid and expert advice of the boards of agriculture. The associations grew and prospered until 1914. The World War, however, destroyed all these organizations; all dairy control ceased, and after the war the work had to be done again from the very beginning.

The work of reorganizing and extending dairy control in Czechoslovakia is now in progress. The end in view, however, is not a mere renewal of the control as it existed before the war, but rather the organization of a new dairy control on a broader and firmer basis. Whereas dairy control formerly was largely the private affair of a commune or an association of breeders, under the patronage of the board of agriculture in some cases, it has now been placed on the single basis of Government supervision of the animal industries. The Ministry of Agriculture considers the organization of dairy control as a matter of importance for the whole country; it has provided a foundation for its development and given it a uniform basis for organization.

Uniformity in dairy control in Czechoslovakia is to be achieved through the following measures:

1. The State provides for the education of testers and inspectors. 2. Dairy control is to be carried out according to the same principles in all parts of the country.

3. The State issues identical forms and blanks for the records throughout the Republic.

The organization of this new dairy control has been worked out by a conference called for that purpose by the Ministry of Agriculture. The conference has held three sessions: The first, at the end of 1920: the second in January, and the third in May, of 1921.

Special committees of the conference have prepared detailed regulations for the various phases of dairy control, indicating the basic principles of the new dairy control in Czechoslovakia. Dairy control is now being introduced on the basis of these principles. As I write these lines, the graduates of the spring courses are leaving for their posts as testers and inspectors.

The basic principles for the further development of dairy control in Czechoslovakia, as formulated by the Ministry of Agriculture, will be explained at length in the succeeding paragraphs. The following matters have to be considered:

1. The organization of the courses of study for the testers.

2. The highest and the lowest number of dairy cows to be tested by one inspector, and the periods of testing.

3. The control of milk production and the testing of butterfat content, the period of testing, and the methods of conserving the milk. 4. The preparation of feeding rules, and the computation of bal

anced rations.

5. The forms of milk records for the testers; the forms of farm and breed records.

6. The equipment of the testers and inspectors.

The greatest emphasis is laid on the proper education of the execu tive organs of dairy control-the testers or inspectors.

The new method of dairy control in Czechoslovakia differs from the old pre-war method chiefly in this respect, that special testers are now being educated for the service and that they receive a thorough instruction and training.

The testers or inspectors receive their education in special courses at the agricultural colleges at Brno, Prague, and Libwerda; the first two are Czechoslovak, the third, German. About 30 testers have graduated from the courses this year. The courses will be given annually as new testers may be needed.

The instruction given is both theoretical and practical.

1. The theoretical course offers the students a complete theoretical education in dairy control through regular lectures and demonstrations, discussions, written exercises, laboratory work, office work, and the study of the technique of dairy control.

2. The practical course consists of the systematic work of a model dairy control on a model farm with all the necessary labors and calculations. In addition, the students, through excursions combined with the practical application of dairy control, are given the opportunity to study the management of agricultural establishments, both large and small, and practical methods of cattle raising.

Each course lasts three months, the theoretical course preceding the instruction in the practice of dairy control. The theoretical course includes about 430 hours of lectures and 144 hours of exercises. It covers the following subjects:

1. Dairy control, its purpose, aims, and organization.

2. Physiology of the domestic animals.

3. Cattle raising; cattle races.

4. Cattle breeding.

5. The keeping of herd books.

6. The production and care of milk.

7. The chemical composition of milk and its properties.

8. The testing of milk.

9. Feeding stuffs.

10. The feeding of cattle.

11. The computation of balanced rations.

12. The cultivation of fodder plants; meadows and pastures.

13. The hygiene of cattle; first aid in diseases or injuries.

14. Tocology.

15. The raising of calves and young cattle.

16. The utilization of milk, and the organization of sales.

17. Legislation and administrative procedure in connection with dairy control.

18. Bookkeeping in dairy control.

19. The duties and tasks of the testers and inspectors.

The instruction given in the theoretical course serves as a basis for the practical course, which provides a thorough training in the actual work of dairy control. The students are required personally to perform all the work required in the stable, in the dairy, in the preparation of fodder, and in the keeping of the records. This work is to be done not only on the model farm of the course, but also on such other farms as may be visited by the students.

This course is designed to give the students practical training in the following:

1. The ear marking, measuring, and weighing of animals.

2. The weighing and measuring of milk.

3. The taking and preserving of samples of milk.

4. The testing of milk for butterfat contents.

5. The preparation of fodder of all kinds.

6. The weighing of feed rations; the giving and placing of fodder.
7. Milking and aftermilking.

8. The straining, airing, cooling, and storing of milk.

9. The supervision of grazing cattle.

10. The care and management of cattle; keeping the stable clean.

11. First aid in cases of injury or sickness.

12. Assistance in delivery.

13. Complete bookkeeping of dairy control; the making up of feed budgets.

14. The collation and analysis of the results recorded.

After the completion of the course an examination is held to test the student's learning, manual dexterity, ability, initiative, persistence, and working efficiency in general. Diplomas are issued to the students on the basis of the tests.

In addition to these educational courses, it is proposed later on to institute supplementary courses for the graduates in active service, to render them familiar with the latest discoveries made since their graduation in both science and practice.

The provisions made for the instruction, both theoretical and practical, of the testers and inspectors seem to be ample.

These courses are not confined to the candidates for official positions, but are open to practical farmers desiring to extend their special knowledge of dairying or cattle breeding. Thus the courses may, in a way, take the place of special schools for breeders. The sons and prospective heirs of farmers are likewise encouraged to attend these courses and, after graduation, serve for a time as testers or inspectors. In this way the courses will provide instruction not only for the prospective officials, but also for practical farmers and cattle breeders.

Under the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture the work of dairy control will be carried on according to a uniform method throughout the territory of the Czechoslovak Republic. There are to be two grades of control:

1. Complete or strict control.

2. Partial or advisory control.

The work of dairy control may also be carried on by private parties, e. g., large landholders outside the testing organization, employing their own testers. The regulations in force do not apply to private control. This form of control may likewise be complete or partial. Private parties may obtain the assistance of public research institutes on payment of special fees. In matters of public control such aid is given free of charge.

Strict control is not confined to the current computation of the quantity of the milk obtained and its butterfat contents; it has to ascertain also the specific weight of milk and the total of solids, two elements of importance for a correct estimate of milk production. In practice the tester himself computes only the butterfat content (and sometimes not even that) and sends samples for detailed examination to the State Institute for Dairy Research at Prague (for Bohemia) or to the dairy section of the Moravian Institute for Zootechnical Research at Brno (for Moravia and Silesia). The results of the examination are immediately reported to the tester, who notes them on the books of record.

Advisory control is identical with the present practice of computing the quantity of milk and its fat yield, and calculating the total yield of butter and the yield of milk with 1 per cent of fat.

Strict control has been introduced only in the principal breeding districts where cattle breeding and dairying show a relatively high development.

Advisory control is intended to improve conditions in districts where the development of the animal industries is mediocre or below the average, and to stimulate interest in cow testing, intensive milkproduction, and scientific breeding, so that complete dairy control may soon be introduced and new breeding or dairy districts created. In regions where the animal industries are rather backward such regular advisory control may be reduced to mere occasional tests, to be expanded later into regular and detailed control as the breeding improves. It seems that such a beginning must be made for the present in a majority of the breeding districts in Czechoslovakia.

The tests are to made at intervals of 14 days. In the two weeks the inspector is to test successively all the herds in his jurisdiction. As he has 12 working days he can test 12 herds in all. The herds naturally must be neither too large nor too small.

In view of the expense connected with dairy control, 10 head of cattle is to be considered a minimum herd. On the basis of experience, the maximum has been placed at 50.

The inspector, accordingly, has to test 12 herds, of 120 to 600 dairy cows in all, on the supposition that the herds are located in such a way as to permit the tester to reach all the herds on time.

However, as it is intended gradually to introduce dairy control everywhere, it is probable that at first it may be necessary in many cases to test herds containing less than 10 dairy cows. In such cases it is expected that the inspector will be able to test two such small herds in one day when they are located in the same commune, so that he can be present at each milking.

Where it is not possible, for any cause, to introduce control at intervals of two weeks, the inspections will be made at intervals of three weeks. Such will be the case chiefly in those regions where advisory control is being introduced for the first time. Dairy control at three-week intervals will naturally be considered as one of lower grade and security, and the cows and herds thus inspected (at threeweek intervals) will receive a lower classification.

Intervals in excess of three weeks will not be permitted-with the sole exception of cases where, owing to a backward condition of the cattle industry, an irregular advisory control is to be introduced as explained above. The reason is that, with control at intervals exceeding three weeks, the results are not correct enough to furnish a reliable basis for estimates of future yield, and even the smallest expenditure is too large where the results are not reliable.

Books and blanks for the recording of the results of dairy control (notebook for the testers, book of control, annual summary of the yield and production of the individual dairy cows under control) have been issued by the Ministry of Agriculture in a uniform edition and will be supplied to the communes as needed.

Feeding is one of the most important elements of dairy control. It is one of the objects of dairy control to place feeding on a scientific basis, so that the dairy cows shall be fed in proportion to their

production and shall not receive more food than they are able to convert into milk, while their productive capacity is to be utilized to the utmost by sufficient rations. Through a strict control of the productivity of the individual dairy cows the highest financial returns are to be secured to the dairyman. A reliable system of feeding is necessary for that purpose, and if dairy control is to be carried out methodically throughout the Republic the system of feeding must likewise be uniform-this also for the purpose that the results of control in the Republic may be comparable. For these reasons the question of systematic feeding has received considerable attention in the reorganization of dairy control in the Republic of Czechoslovakia.

Kellner's principles are followed in estimating the feed value and computing balanced rations, the following being taken into account: Total dry matter, digestible albumen, and starch value, the latter being designated, however, as "Kellner's feed units." This is done for the reason that the expression "starch values" might give the agriculturist a wrong idea concerning the starch contents of the various foods, whereas Kellner's starch value indicates the productive capacity of all the digestible nutrients; and for the additional reason that the designation of "Kellner's feed units" has a better chance of becoming popularly known since the expression "feed unit" is already current.

Normal balanced rations are to be computed according to special tables. These tables, with detailed directions for their use from the pen of Prof. J. Just, have been published by the Ministry of Agriculture. The first of them shows the needed quantity of dry matter, digestible albumen, and number of Kellner's feed units for a varying milk yield and weight. The table shows the quantity of neutrients needed with a milk yield increasing by 2 kilos, which is sufficient for all practical purposes, and with the live weight increasing by 50 kilos, which too is sufficient, since the live weight of the dairy cows only serves as a basis for the computation of the sustenance part of the ration. It is well known that the size of the sustenance part of the feed ration does not depend so much on the live weight of the cow, as the smaller animals are usually more active, so that their need of nutrients is not so much less than with larger animals. The other tables give a list of the various feeds, showing for each of them the amount of dry matter, albumen, and number of Kellner's feed units contained; and this not only in percentages, but also for specified weights of the feed as they are used in practice: For 5, 10, 20, and 30 kilos of watery feeds, and for 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 kilos of dry fodder. This manner of tabulation means a saving of time, as the quantity of the nutrients named can be read from the table directly or can be found by simple addition, whereas the more difficult process of multiplication is required when the tables show percentages only, and errors may easily be made. The tables also show the lime contents of the feeds in percentages. In case a ration lacks a certain quantity of nutrients, a larger number of feeds is to be used; two additional feeds at least. Another table can be consulted in that case. In this way a balanced ration can be easily computed from the tables or from graphs so that the whole process will be very simple and at the same time also exact.