DAIRY MEETING. ']7 



plaints that come are from the man who has not been careful 

 in his feeding. We certainly would like to use it with wheat 

 bran, and we are very sorry that wheat bran costs so much. 

 We have to pay $30 where we used to get it for $12. We shall 

 have to be very chary in mixing wheat offals into our feeds. 

 We want to use some of them, I wish we could use all of them, 

 but I do not see how we can do it under present market condi- 

 tions. I think we are on the right track with cottonseed meal. 

 Use it as we have been using it, use it with all the intelligence 

 we can, and it is our cheapest source of protein thus far. We 

 can get linseed meal at the same price per ton, but it does not 

 furnish the same amount of protein. If we take into account 

 the carbohydrates, it is about as cheap, but those of us who have 

 all the carbohydrates we want and are only looking for protein, 

 can get it for 2.^ cents in cottonseed meal and 3 cents in linseed. 

 Prof. F. W. Card. I should like to emphasize one line which 

 the professor has brought out, in relation to the business prob- 

 lems involved in dairying. He has given us figures in regard 

 to several cows, the five best and the five poorest in the herd, 

 and he has shown that with a very little difference in the cost of 

 the food consumed, there was a marked difference in returns. 

 There was the same investment in the farm, the same invest- 

 ment in buildings, there was doubtless pretty nearly the same 

 investment in cows. There was an addition of just a few 

 dollars in expense, and a difference of 800 per cent in profit. 

 Now it seems to me that right along those lines we need to con- 

 centrate our thoughts more than we have done in the past. We 

 need to study these problems as a business man studies the cost 

 of production and the returns. If there is any one thought 

 that I should like to emphasize, it is just this, — the dairy busi- 

 ness is a business which calls for heavy investment. The whole 

 equipment is expensive. There must be a heavy capital before 

 we begin to produce, and we must utilize that capital to the very 

 best advantage if we would get a profit out of it. It seems to 

 me that the dairy business is a most difficult one from which to 

 get satisfactory returns upon the investment. I believe there 

 are more dairies in the country that are failing to yield any 

 adequate profit than any other Hne of farming. Yet, on the 

 other hand, there are dairies which are yielding admirable 

 profits, and it is owing to just the study of these little points, 

 and the business principles which underHe them. 



