258 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



quarter cents per pound. Tlie quality alone will not sell butter, it must 



be put uj) in a nuuiner to attract tlie eye of the fastidious purchaser. 



Now, as regards the profits of tliis branch of farming, I have 



some i)ractical results to present from which you can draw your 



own conclusions. During the past year I have had charge of a 



herd ot ten common cows. Two were half-blood, one seven-eighths 



Jersey, and the rest native stock. The year's product was 2,000 



pounds butter and 125 pounds cheese, besides milk and cream 



supplied to a family of twelve persons. The butter sold for an 



average price of 33 cents per pound the year round ; veal and calves 



were sold to the amount of $42, in addition to the 'skim-milk and 



butter-milk which was fed to swine, except what was required to 



raise seven calves. The gross annual income amounts to $71.50 for 



each cow. Each cow consumed two tons of good hay or its equivalent 



with the follow'ing grain ration for seven months, fed twice a da}', 



two quarts at a time — one-third cotton-seed meal, one-third corn and 



cob meal, and one-third wheat bran, which will cost at the present 



prices about eight cents a day per cow. The account will then 



stand like this : — 



Two tons hav at $15.00 $30.00 



Grain " 1G.80 



Pasturage G.OO 



$52.80 

 This leaves a net balance in favor of the cow^ — exclusive of the 

 skini-milk and the manure — of $18.70. Or to put it in another form, 

 returns $24.35 per ton for the hay fed out. 



Rut I am not satisfied with this showing. I want to raise the 

 average annual yield of my herd from 200 up to 250 or 300 pounds, 

 and obtain a corresponding increase in the average price of the 

 butter per pound. In order to do this 1 must wait for ni}' grades 

 to come into profit, when I feel confident that I shall make more 

 butter per cow and of a higher quality. 



In conclusion I wish to impress upon 3*011 that whatever measure 

 of success I have attained has not been due to an}' special training, 

 but to good care and attendance, and a strict attention to all the 

 minor details of the business. 



The remainder of the evening, after the reading of the above 

 l)aper, was taken up wath a discussion on the "Feeding and Care of 

 Cows," participated in by the members of the Board and by the 

 farmers present. 



