36 Director's Keport of the 



DAIRYING. 



Dairying is the leading agricultural industry in this State. 

 Dairy products are probably sold from not less than 200,000 

 farms, involving the keeping of more than a million and a half of 

 cows. The annual sale of dairy products at the time of the last 

 census could not have been less than $60,000,000, and notwith- 

 standing the magnitude of this industry it is unprofitable on 

 many farms, although in many cases this may not be realized. The 

 lack of profit is due to several factors, among which are the low 

 price at which bulk milk is sold and the keeping of inferior cows. 



The keeping of careful records of the feeding and production 

 of the Station herd gives an opportunity to illustrate the influence 

 upon profit of the individuality of the animals. The animals in 

 the Station herd present a high grade of efiiciency and they are 

 more uniform in their productive capacity than would be the case 

 on any but very exceptional farms. Nevertheless, the range of 

 yield during three years' records was from 3,350 pounds of milk 

 for the poorest cow to 10,150 pounds for the largest yielding cow. 

 This means that one animal produced three times as much milk 

 as the other and twice as much butter-fat, with the consumption 

 by the better animal of only one-tenth more food. 



The following is a quotation from the conclusions presented in 

 Bulletin 'No. 322, published in 1910 : " If for the poorer half of 

 the herd, we had substituted animals equal to those in the better 

 half, it would have increased the yearly revenue $237.40 if we 

 had sold milk at current shippers' prices, or $379.90 if we had sold 

 butter-fat, with an added expense of only $40 as the cost of the 

 extra food consumed by the better cows." 



As emphasizing the results with the Station herd, mention may 

 be made of the records at the Stations of two farmers, one of whom 

 received in one year $877 from the product of eight cows, while 

 the other farmer received only $868 from the product of twenty- 

 two cows. The Dairy Department of the Station has urged upon 

 the dairymen of the State the wisdom of ascertaining the produc- 

 tivity of the individuals in their herds and the weeding out as fast 

 as possible of the poorer animals. 



