BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



211 



COW-TESTING ASSOCIATIONS. 



Two men have been engaged in giving assistance to State officials 

 in organizing and conducting cow-testing associations. This work 

 has been described in previous reports. During the past fiscal year 33 

 new associations were formed and 7 were discontinued. At present 

 there are 81 associations in the United States, the greater number of 

 which the Dairy Division has been instrumental in organizing. The 

 plan in organizing is to require local officers to assume responsibility 

 for conducting the organization. When necessary, assistance is given 

 in maintaining these associations by sending a man to straighten out 

 difficulties that arise. These 81 associations comprise about 40,000 

 cows. The following results in two herds of one of the associations 

 are an interesting example of what is being accomplished in enabling 

 farmers to keep records of cost, production, etc., and to detect and 

 remedy any shortcomings: 



Comparison of averages of two herds in same association. 



One of these herds made a profit of $76.22 per cow, while the other 

 made a profit of only $8.65 per cow. The more profitable herd was 

 fed an abundance of silage, while to the other no silage was fed. This, 

 of course, is not the only reason for the difference; however, a careful 

 study of the records of these herds indicates that silage is very 

 essential to the maintenance of a fuU milk flow during the winter 

 months. The owner of the unprofitable herd has been living next 

 to a man who had a silo for a number of years, yet he did not realize 

 its usefulness until he saw these figures, after which he buUt a silo at 

 once. 



Plans have been prepared for the organization of several buU asso- 

 ciations for the purpose of enabling the owners of several small herds 

 to cooperate in securing better bulls. 



HERD RECORDS. 



The practice of keeping records of single herds separately is urged 

 only where cow-testing associations can not be organized. Herds 

 containing 1,174 cows have been included in this work during the 

 past year. From one herd, as a result of this work, 25 unprofitable 

 cows were sold. In another herd, by change of feed, the cost of feed- 

 ing per cow was reduced from $6.52 to $5.48 per month. In still 

 another the cost of feed was reduced from $6.05 to $4.63 by the same 

 means. The use of pure bred buUs follows as a natural result of any 

 kind of herd-record work. 



DAIRY BUILDINGS. 



Blue prints have been furnished to farmers during the year for 236 

 barns, 113 silos, 124 milk houses, 45 ice houses, 8 dairy schools, 5 man- 



