REPORT OF STATE DAIRY INSTRUCTOR. IQ 



farmer is prosperous he spends his money with the local mer- 

 chant and this merchant buys supplies from Boston. In other 

 words, unless the farmers are prosperous, the cities do not 

 receive their full measure of prosperity. At the present time 

 they are only partly through with their investigation. 



In order to get at the cost of production, three meetings were 

 held last fall, in all the New England states. The meetings in 

 this state were held at Newport, November ii, Augusta, No- 

 vember 12, and Auburn, November 13. These meetings were 

 advertised and all the local arrangements made by the State 

 Department of Agriculture. They were in charge of Mr. John 

 C. Orcuttt, secretary of the committee on agriculture of the 

 Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Lyon Weyburn, the counsel for 

 the committee, conducted the hearings. The meeting at Auburn 

 was the largest, 67 being present, 42 of whom were milk pro- 

 ducers, representing the following cities and towns : Auburn, 

 Bath, Camden, Falmouth, Greene, HolHs, Lewiston, Lisbon, 

 Mechanic Falls, New Gloucester, Norway, Sanford, Turner, 

 Waterford, Westbrook, Winthrop, Woodstock. 



Some of the best dairymen in the state were present and the 



following is taken from the testimony of one of them. 



Average production of cows, 6,700 pounds, or 388 cans, sold 

 to Hood and Son at 33 1-3 cents per can. . . . $129.98 



Paid for grain $38.87 



Labor at loc a day 36.50 



Depreciation i5-00 90.37 



$39.61 

 This leaves $39.61 for hay, ensilage and pasture, not taking 

 into account keep of bull, taxes, insurance, bedding, ice and 

 other incidental expenses. Setting these items against the 

 manure there is still $39.61 left for hay and ensilage. In reck- 

 oning the labor, the dairyman estimated his own time at the 

 same price he paid his hired man, charging nothing for his 

 services as manager, or for the care and worry to increase or 

 to hold the average production of his herd, the trouble that he 

 is likely to have with diseases, and the many other things that 

 a man has to contend with in handling a dairy herd, which is 

 the kind of work that brings a high price in the labor market. 

 Nothing was said about the labor of the farmer's wife in wash- 

 ing and caring for the separator and other dairy utensils every 

 day in the year. 



