No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 293 



oped ; that the native aristocratic whites are not disposed to welcome 

 immigrant farmers on favorable conditions; that the advance in 

 Pampas stock and crop production between 1870 and 1905 was phe- 

 nominal because of phenominal conditions which reached their climax 

 in the latter named year; that since 1905 the increase in production 

 and export has shown only slight gains ; and that there is no evidence 

 that the farmers of South America will ever be likely to dominate 

 European or American markets to the detriment of our own husband- 

 men. 



THE COST OF MARKET MILK 



Three Ways in Which it May be Reduced by the Producer 



By EDWARD VAN ALSTYNE, Einderhook. New York 



Mr, President, Ladies and Gentlemen: I think all of us agree 

 that the margin of profit over the cost of production is exceedingly 

 small. In fact in many cases the only real profit is the converting 

 of unsalable or low priced raw material grown on the farm, such as 

 pasture grasses, stalks, hay, etc., into milk. The milk costs in feed, 

 labor and interest on the money invested in the cattle and plant, 

 every cent that is received for it. The crops referred to, marketed 

 through the milk, afford a substantial increase over the cost of pro- 

 duction. While dairymen have been called — and with some degree 

 of truth^mauure, rather than milk makers, yet when one realizes 

 that a dairy cow will yield eleven tons of solid and liquid excrement 

 in twelve months, worth at current prices for the fertilizer contained 

 in it |2 a ton, allowing that it is all saved, we have a value from 

 the manure of $22, an item not to be despised, as evidenced by the 

 productivity of the farm of the dairyman in comparison with that of 

 his neighbor who is not a stock keeper. These two sources of profit 

 will explain why, in view of the numerous records and cow census 

 of unproductive dairies, few dairjanen are sold out by the sheriff. 

 Nevertheless, there should be, over and above these items, a substan- 

 tial increase direct from the milk, a discussion of which is my chief 

 purpose at this time; but I want first to take a broad view of the 

 situation from the standpoint of the dairyman whose livelihood must 

 come in a greater or less degree from his cows, and who is not satis- 

 fied to keep them solely as machines to turn raw material into a 

 finished product, manure makers or for their society. I believe 

 it is wise to look the situation squarely in the face and see what 

 it actually costs to produce a quart of milk under normal condi- 

 tions. 



My own herd are grade Guernseys. The production last year 

 was one thousand pounds a head below the normal, on account of 

 the prolonged drouth, which cut down the yield in spite of supple- 

 mentary feed. In addition we had three cows go to pieces during 



the year. The total yield of the three did not equal what one of 



