6 The Bulletin 



original weight. In the herd record work reported in this bulletin, the 

 milk was accurately weighed after each milking. In most instances the 

 feeds were weighed at irregular intervals, therefore the feed records 

 are only close approximations. 



Number and Character of Herds. 



It is impossible, at present, to secure records from a sufficient number 

 of herds to show results which will be representative for the whole of 

 North Carolina. The majority of the herds reported in this publication 

 are above the average in production as only the best dairymen could be 

 induced to inaugurate and carry through the work. Kecord work dur- 

 ing the year 1911-12 was inaugurated with seventy-one dairymen but 

 only fourteen completed a year's record. The owners of decidedly in- 

 ferior herds soon discontinued either from indifference or embarass- 

 ment. With the exception of three or four Jersey herds mentioned in 

 this bulletin, the majority of the cows were grade Jerseys and scrubs. 



Valuation of Feeds Used. 



With the exception of one herd the record work embraced in this 

 bulletin was conduced with the patrons of a local creamery in the Pied- 

 mont section, therefore, the estimated price of feeds and dairy products 

 is fairly uniform. 



The following feeds were used during the year with the average 

 prices per ton. All of these feeds were not, however, used upon any 

 one farm. 



Corn stover $8.00 



Mixed hay 13.00 



Corn silage k 3.25 



Cottonseed hulls 5 - 80 



Cottonseed l9 - 40 



Cottonseed meal 26.25 



Wheat bran 33.00 



Wheat shorts 38.00 



Corn chop 26.70 



Sucrene 29.65 



Average pasturage five months at $1.00 5.00 



The price of cotton seed hulls has advanced somewhat since the fall 

 of 1911 when most of the above feed was purchased. The wheat bran 

 and shorts were fed in limited quantities and, being purchased in rela- 

 tively small amounts, the price per ton is considerably higher than it 

 would have been had these feeds been purchased either in ton or car lots. 



The value of butter and butter-fat is based upon the actual prices for 

 which they were sold. Skim milk was valued at forty cents per hun- 

 dredweight with the exception of herd 14, the valuation of the product 

 iA this case being placed at twenty-five cents per hundredweight. Pur- 

 chased feeds were valued at actual cost and home-grown feeds at the 

 current value. It will be seen from this method of estimating the prof- 

 its returned by the different herds that accurate comparisons can not be 

 made with herds in different sections of the State, because no two dairy 

 farmers are likely to pay the same prices for their purchased feeds. A 



