324 



AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



COW as it did the good cow ; in other words, it shows that, in 

 order to have a profitable cow, it is necessary that she should 

 be able to consume and digest large quantities of food above 

 her maintenance ration. 



It is understood, of course, that care is taken in compounding 

 a ration suitable for milk production. 



Relation of Yield to Cost of Production. 



The following table gives the yearly records of 203 cows of 

 the South Lyndeboro Cow Test Association, classified in order 

 of the amount of milk produced. 



o 



Et3 



il 



c ^ 



MP 



a ^ o 



•^ o 



a) O " 



" K GJ 



O S 



(D U t^ 



■S 0,4' 

 '-_ '*> 



> « £ 



fl o >» 



h >> ° 



-t^ ^. 



t- p,flj 



c3 O 0; 



»-. O > 



¥ u O 



.._ o 



O u 



^^ 



ssfC 



"2 »^ 

 < ^ ft 



2 o 



8^ . 



a; <D t- 

 S c >, 



^ I. OJ 



<l tf ft 



■so 



Mo 



> £ s 



<Jft£ 





s 



3 



QD 



o 





8 

 14 

 26 

 41 

 40 

 39 

 25 

 10 



203 



10 ,000 — over 

 9 ,000-10 ,000 

 8 ,000- 9 ,000 

 7 ,000- 8 ,000 

 6,000- 7,000 

 5 ,000- 6 .000 

 4 ,000- 5 ,000 

 l^ess than 

 4,000 



875 380.37 

 ,396 343.43 

 ,434 301 

 381277 

 499 239 

 ,540 '209 

 ,605 176 



Av. per cow. 



3 ,061 



6,710 



.3 



.16 



.6 



.37 



.0 



117.4 



248.14 



$88 59 

 25 

 3 

 81 



46 

 18 



73 59 

 65 91 



56 61 



57 22 



$73 62 



$106 82 $37 33 

 79 181 38 23 

 63 86 

 11 



52 



43 651 

 34 56 



38 29 

 38 47 



37 50 



33 76 



27 201 29 58 



4 25 36 62 



$51 26 

 50 02 

 45 17 

 42 72 

 36 09 

 32 14 

 27 02 



20 61 



$46 80 $36 lli$37 51 



$2 21 

 1 90 

 1 77 

 1 64 

 1 59 

 1 52 

 1 48 



93 



$1 64 



In studying this table it will be clearly seen that, as the 

 amount of milk per cow is increased, there is a decrease in the 

 feed cost of producing milk per loo pounds. 



The cost of maintaining a cow per thousand pounds of live 

 weight under similar conditions is practically the same, whether 

 she produces a large or small amount of milk. Before any food 

 is used for production the cow first uses enough, either of the 

 foods she eats daily or the food which she, in times past, has 

 stored upon her body in the form of fat or muscle, to maintain 

 the wear on the various organs, to keep her warm, and to give 

 her energy to move about. There is no return from the feed 

 used for maintenance, except the life in the cow and the ma- 

 nure. If she only eats a small amount above her maintenance 

 ration, whether it is due to lack of capacity or to underfeeding, 

 there will only be a small amount of milk produced, sometimes 



