244 



AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



Herd No. 2. 



NEWAYGO COUNTY DAIRY TESTING ASSOCIATION, 



MICHIGAN. 



YEARLY AVERAGES PER COW. 



The next herd shows very much the same conditions, going 

 from less than 5,000 pounds of milk to over 6,000. The in- 

 crease in cost of feed, as you see, is $4.93 in four years, while 

 the profits have increased $33.61. 



We will turn over the charts very rapidly. The same thing 

 stands out in each herd. There is a small number of cows 

 in the herds which have been left after weeding out and the 

 herd gradually built up again, largely as better stock has been 

 bred to fill the places. You will say to me that I am calling 

 your attention ony to the best herds in the association, the herds 

 that showed the greatest increase. That is true, I will grant 

 you, but we are interested in getting figures that will show 

 actual results. The Government is not paying men to go 

 around and advertise a proposition that would not hold true, 

 any more than a good business house is. So we have taken the 

 average of all the herds that have been continuously in the 

 association for the entire four years. There were only 8 

 herds that staid in year after year. There was the same shift- 

 ing that seems to have to occur in every association — an assort- 

 ing of dairymen as well as an assorting of cows. The men in 

 the association, now, are the survival of the fittest, as are the 

 cows. The shiftless farmers have drifted out and the men who 

 have staid are the men who are really dairymen. 



