46 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



The second year's feeding of heifers is costing the Connecticut 

 Agricultural College about $30.00, making the heifers cost for 

 feed alone at two years old $60.00. This figure is arrived at by 

 allowing $16.00 per ton for hay in the barn, $4.00 per ton for 

 silage and $30.00 per ton for the grain mixture. The new milk 

 was charged up at 3 1-2 cents per quart and the skimmed milk 

 at 20 cents per hundred weight. 



If we figure the heifer to be worth $5.00 when dropped, and 

 consider that the manure has paid for the labor of taking care 

 of her she costs us $65.00 at two years old. This does not take 

 account of the money invested in buildings and equipment. 

 This seems a high price to pay for a two-year-old, but it must be 

 remembered that the farm crops have been sold to her at a good 

 price, and that she is well bred and has been well developed and 

 is likely to be worth more than the ordinary scrub heifer. If 

 the heifers do well and are large and vigorous, they may be bred 

 so as to freshen at from two years old to 30 months ; probably 

 the latter age would be better as a general rule. In that case six 

 months extra feed will be charged to the heifer before she begins 

 her life work. 



It is important now to know what would be expected from 

 such a heifer in order that she may prove a profitable investment. 

 If she gives 5,000 pounds of milk during her first year of milk- 

 ing and it is sold on a butter fat basis it would have to test 5% 

 in order to give 250 pounds of fat. Two hundred and fifty 

 pounds of fat at 30 cents per pound equals $75.00; 4,000 pounds 

 of skimmed milk is worth $8.00, and her calf is worth at least 

 $2.00, making her total product for the year worth about $85.00. 

 If she should give 6,000 pounds of milk testing the same, her 

 product would be worth $101.00. Seven thousand pounds of 

 3.5% milk would be worth $86.70 on the same basis, and the 

 same amount of milk at 3 1-2 cents per quart would be worth 

 $115.00, and adding the calf at $2.00 w^ould make the product 

 worth $117.00. 



By this method of figuring it is easy to see that we must get 

 pretty good heifers if they are to pay for the cost of raising 

 them by the time they are five or six years old. A heifer that 

 costs $65.00 to raise to 2 years old will need to give pretty close 

 to $100.00 gross income each year for the first three years she 



