408 ANNUAL. REPORT OP THE Off. Doc. 



quart, and they do not restrict the farmer to feeds. The cream trade 

 has also nearly doubled within the last few years. This is without 

 doubt, the most profitable way a dairyman can dispose of his pro- 

 duct, as it leaves the skim milk for feeding out upon the farm. 



The consumption of oleomargarine, while on the increase, is kept 

 well within the bounds of the dairy and food laws. The output for 

 1908 was about 7!),000,000 pounds, or an increase of about 10,000,000 

 over 1907. 



'The average price of butter in 1908 was 27.61c. The low point 

 was in August, when extras dropped to 21|c. The highest price 

 was in February when 84|c was reached. This is about l-3c under 

 the average price for 1907. 1907 was the banner year. 



But, leaving the dairy conditions of Pennsylvania for a few min- 

 utes, I want to speak of a problem for the dairymen everywhere; 

 yes, and it is a problem in which the professional experimenter in 

 dairy husbandry can help us. It is safe to say that of the 23,000,000 

 cows in the United States, seven-eighths of them are what might 

 be called the "common cow"' — that is, not capable of producing ovet 

 150 pounds of butter fat yearly. With a population increasing 

 faster than our dairy products, the question is, how are we to meet 

 this demand for these products? Of course, it will have to be either 

 by increasing the number of cows, or by increasing the amount of 

 butter fat per cow. In other words, shall we try to double the pro- 

 duction of our cows, or shall we double the number of cows? Of 

 course, all these common cows cannot be replaced by the special 

 dairy cow, but if there is some way by which the common cow may 

 be made to increase her product by even a half, the saving in feed 

 to a dairyman would help him to withstand to a little advantage 

 this enormous cost of feed. Is there anything we can do to bring 

 this condition about? Something ought to be done, if possible, to 

 relieve this drain on the dairyman. Within a short time, I heard 

 one of the bes^ dairymen say that it was costing him 30 per cent, 

 more to produce milk now than it did three years ago, and yet the 

 price of milk was no higher, and he had simply got to go out of the 

 business, or produce milk at a loss. 



The most misleading statistics we have are those concerning agri- 

 cultural products. The dairy output is estimated at |800, 000,000. 

 Some of our great papers illustrate it by having the farmer handing 

 out |100 to every man, woman and child in the United States. Great 

 as it is, the probable cost of the -1800,000,000 worth of product was 

 a billion dollars at least. If our papers would figure this out, I 

 think it would bring every man, woman and child in debt to the far- 

 mer. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FEEDING STUFFS. 



By G. G. HUTCHISON, Cliairman. 



As Chairman of your Committee on Feeding Stufifs, I beg leave 

 to make the following report for the year ending December 31st, 

 1908. 



The Legislature of 1907 passed a new Feeding Stuffs Law, and the 

 Goyernor approved the game on the 28tli day of May, 1907j but the 



