990 New York State Daikymen's Association 



to a strictly business basis. This is demonstrated bv the fact that 

 so often he refuses to ai^ply business principles and even holds 

 them up to scorn as beini;- theoretical, scientitic and impractical. 

 He has refused fundamentals which have made millionaire^ and 

 leaders of men in other lines of industry. The truth of this is 

 evidenced by the fact that of the millions of cows now being 

 milked in the United States only one out of three on the averagx? 

 ivlarns a real protit. Therefore, in doaling with this subject of 

 feeding cows for great and economical results, if I can make im- 

 pressive the fact that real success depends upon reducing the 

 feeding of cows to a basis governed by the intelligent and 

 thoughtful application of business detail, your time will not have 

 been wasted. As a matter of fact, the farms of the United States 

 are her greatest factories. Every cow is kept thei"© as a machine 

 of certain capacity and efficiency, for the purpose of converting 

 raw materials — the grains and grasses which grow in the fields — 

 into a finished commodity of commerce. The value of each 

 machine should be measured by the amomit of feed she can con- 

 sume and convey profitably into milk and butter fat. To de- 

 termine this point it is necessary for the dair^anan to weigh and 

 test the milk at intervals sufficiently close to detennine the relative 

 merits of individuals from the production standpoint, and de- 

 termining the amount and cost of feed she consumes, he is pre- 

 pared to say which is the profitable cow and which is the loafer, 

 provided he has given the animals the opportunity for producing 

 tlicir maximum yield. The fact that two-thirds of the cows being 

 milked are unprofitable, does not indicate that these cows are all 

 poor individuals and so poorly bred as to be unable to yield a 

 profit. Proper feeding alone would suttice to make profitable at 

 least half of the cows that are now showing a loss. 



'i'licrc! are certain widl-known facts pertaining to the feeding of 

 cows that should be adopted and j)racticed by every dairynmn. 

 He shouhl have as clear an understanding of what milk is com- 

 posed of as the successful iiianufacturcr has of what the article 

 he is nuiking contains. The groat secret of nnmufacturing milk 

 largely and at, a profit, is feeding through the most efficient ;iud 

 capacious machine abuiidaiil Iv that raw material from which milk 

 is most economically made. To accomplish this the feeder must 



