Improvement of Missouri Herds. 353 



COST PER HUNDRED POUNDS' GAIN IN PIGS. 



Corn at 40 cents per bushel, skim milk at 15 cents per cwt. 



Fed on 



Cost per 100 

 lbs. 



Corn and bluegrass. 



Corn and rape 



Corn and clover. . . . 

 Corn and alfalfa. . . . 

 Corn and skim milk. 



S3 92 

 3 49 

 3 20 

 2 96 

 2 84 



If, by milking a cow, she may be made to produce $50.00 a 

 year, or even $30.00 a year more cash than when she is not milked, 

 there certainly should be more men engaged in the business. Notice 

 that A. M. H., LaGrange, Mo., realized an average of $75.76 cash 

 per cow per year. These men are they who pay for their groceries 

 at the time of purchase, so that when the corn crop and the hog 

 crop are sold that money may be used for payment on the farm or 

 in the improvement of buildings. 



Big Difference With Same Market. — But notice what a differ- 

 ence there is between H. R. and C. B., both of Corder, with the s'^me 

 number of cows; C, B. receiving $101.00 more than his neighbor. 

 Again, this is apparent in the case of A. D. and W. A. of Billings, 

 each with ten cows milking for one year, yet W. A. receiving nearly 

 $100.00 more than his neighbor. Both these, mind you, sold their 

 produce at the same factory. It is quite apparent that either W. 

 A. has better stock or that he gives better care, for he made a third 

 more during the year than his neighbor, with the same number of 

 cows. Glancing down the column giving income per cow per year, 

 we find a great variation ; the yearly income varying all the way 

 from $33.60 to $75.76. Though this variation be great, the net 

 income would show a greater difference. It may reasonably be 

 figured that the manure, and the skim milk for the feeding of pigs 

 and calves, pay for the work bestowed on the cow. Assuming that 

 ii cost $35.00 a year to feed a cow, the net loss on the lowest would 

 be $1.40, while the net profit with the highest would be $40.76, one 

 cow being over forty times as profitable as the other. 



Select the Cows Within the Herd. — Only a few years ago it 

 was thought that a pedigree was a guarantee of profit, but not so 

 today. Although the dairy-bred herds have a much higher per- 

 centage of profitable individuals, it yet remains that all breeds 



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