Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 June 2009
A report from the United States Department of Agriculture in 1947(1) claimed that a measurement of the mammary gland development of the calf could give some indication of the animal's future milk production. Although the first report did not contain full experimental results, the few figures that were published, and the very strong recommendation from the authors that the relationship should be tested further, encouraged the launchin g of a field trial at Reading University in 1950.