Cow Testing Associations 1643 



In order to have this, ho must either increase the production of 

 milk and butter fat of his cows or the price at which the product 

 is sold. The selling price, although often fixed h}^ the party to 

 whom the product is sold, is largely controlled by the great law of 

 " supply and demand." Many dairymen forget that the easiest 

 way to increase the profit from the herd is to lower the cost of 

 production by increasing the quantity of milk and butter fat pro- 

 duced by the individual cow. In order to do this the dairymen 

 should know the yearly production in milk and fat of each cow in 

 the herd. Since very few farmers are keeping records of their 

 cows, the Department has been organizing cow testing associations 

 in which a competent man is employed to keep a record of the herd. 



In order to form a cow testing association, the dairymen of a 

 neighborhood meet and organize by the election of the president, 

 vice-president, secretary, treasurer and two directors. The officers 

 then engage a man to act as official tester and take charge of the 

 work of the association. The Department lends its aid in organ- 

 izing associations and securing testers to take charge of them, and 

 will supply all blanks needed. The Department has supervision 

 of the work of all associations in the state. The testers are 

 receiving from $40 to $50 per month and board, according to the 

 size of the association. 



Twenty dairies with 712 cows were selected at random from the 

 Delhi and Bovina Associations in Delaware county and the follow- 

 ing data made to demonstrate the possibility of improving the 

 herds of the state by careful selection and breeding. 



The records show that as there was an increase in the produc- 

 tion of butter fat by the selection of the best ten and the best cow, 

 there was a like increase in the milk production. The average 

 production per cow of the best ten cows in each herd was an 

 increase of 884 pounds of milk and 90 pounds of fat over the 

 average of the entire herds. The selection of the best cow in each 

 herd brought this average up still more — 1,182 pounds milk 

 and 50 pounds of fat, or 2,066 pounds more milk and 140 pounds 

 more fat than the average production of the herds. If the twenty 

 herds had been as good as the best ten cows in each herd, the 

 profit over feed would have been increased $19,402 for the year or 

 $27.25 per cow. Could the herds be brought to equal the best 



