No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUL.TURE. 97 



It may be noted that in this statement there was no allowance 

 on the one hand for the cost of shelter of the cow, noi- on the other 

 for the value of the manure produced. 



Goessmann calculated that the average cow of the selected herd 

 at the Massachusetts Experiment Station yielded, during a single 

 year, 12.33 cents per day above the cost of feed and the deprecia- 

 tion in value of the cow, and that of this gross profit 3.52 cents 

 was in cash and 8.81 cents in manure. 



Lane, studying the excellent herd at the New Jersey Station, 

 where the soiling system and the silo are in use, found that 25 

 cows yielded milk at a cost of 1.394 cents per quart for food, or of 

 2.19 cents for food, labor and interest; and that at a selling price 

 of 3 cents per quart, the profit based on the prices ruling in 1899, 

 would be $24.54 cash and 10.6 tons of manure; whereas, if the price 

 obtained for milk were only fl per hundred pounds the dairyman 

 would have for profit only the manure. Lane further calculated 

 that to make her profitable under the conditions obtaining at New- 

 ark the cow must yield at least 574 gallons of milk. 



If this were true of the average Pennsylvania conditions of pro- 

 duction, the average cow of this State would be kept at a loss, more 

 especially if the cost of shelter were added to the statements of 

 expense. 



CAPITALIZATION OF DAIRY FARMS. 



In this connection it is of interest to note the average investment 

 of the average Pennsylvania dairy farmer, exclusive of working- 

 capital. In 1899. he had a farm of 8G acres, of which 63 acres were 

 improved, worth |3,217. His buildings were Avorth |!l,782, his imple- 

 ments f2S9, and his livestock |641. His total investment in these 

 items was |5,929. No estimate of his working capital is available. 

 His annual expenditure for hired labor and for fertilizer was |13o. 

 The value of his products not fed to livestock was $889, besides 

 house rent, less taxes, depreciation and interest, and the principal 

 part of his table expense. That is to say, the gross receipts from 

 outside the farm were equivalent to 15 per cent, of the total fixed 

 investment, other than working capital — an amount superior tO' that 

 obtained that year by the average hay and grain, vegetable, fruit, 

 or livestock farmer of the State. 



EXPERIENCE IN HERD IMPROVEMENT. 



In the foregoing paragraphs, the narrow margin of profits afforded 

 by the average cow has been emphasized. The experience of numer- 

 ous dairy farmers has shown that by the careful selection of sires 

 from productive strains, by the weeding ont of the less productive 

 animals, and by proper feeding and management, herds of grade 

 stock can within two or three generations be made to yield 50 

 per cent, more milk, or an average annual amount of 6,500 pounds 

 and upwards per cow. 



A record sheet for the individual yield at each milking, with a 

 convenient set of pails and spring scales for quick weighing and a 

 composite sample to be analyzed every two. or four weeks at the 

 neighboring creamery, will afford most dairy farmers the simple and 

 inexpensive means of obtaining an accurate estimate of the produc- 

 ing qualities of the individual forming their herd. 



7—7—1908. 



