The Bulletin. 103 



The North Carolina Berkshire Breeders' Associatiou will hold its second 

 annual sale at 1:30 this afternoon. This association was started in my office 

 with a membership of three; to-day we have over 300, and not one man has 

 quit breeding Berkshires. All are enthusiastic, and all are making money. 

 They have shipped here over 50 hogs and pigs, giving you a chance to buy 

 them. We want your support. You don't have to be a Berkshire breeder, but 

 give us your support in breeding hogs. 



Thursday, Aiigaist 29, 1912. 



COW-TESTING ASSOCIATIONS. 



By Helmer Rabild, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



Mr, Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen: Among the important factors which 

 make for success in dairying, the cow occupies the second place. Next to the 

 man, it depends upon her, to a large extent, whether the business is to be 

 prolitable. She should be an animal having the capacity to consume large 

 quantities of feed and convert them into a correspondingly large amount of 

 valuable dairy products. Does the American farmer have that sort of an 

 animal? 



According to a report of the census of ]000, which I use because the results 

 of the 1910 census are not yet available, the average American cow produces 

 145 pounds of butter-fat in a year. If this is sold at a price of 30 cents a 

 pound, the average American cow pays the farmer $43.50 for the feed she 

 consumes in a year. If you have ever figured on the cost of feeding a cow a 

 year, you will agree with me that it has cost more than .$43.50 in the last 

 few years of high feed prices. In other words, the average American cow 

 does not pay the farmer the market price for his feeds; and he houses and 

 cares for her for the skim-milk and manure. Perhaps these two items will 

 pay for the labor, bvit they certainly leave nothing for profit. 



We know of a large number of h;'rds in this country which produce an aver- 

 age per cow of 300 and 400 pounds of butter-fat; and we can boast of fifteen 

 cows in this country which produce over 1,000 pounds of butter in a year. 

 These herds and these great cows are all counted in the average. How many 

 herds there must be below the average in order to drag it down to 145 

 pounds! I think you will agree that there can be no profit in a dairy which 

 consists of cows which produce less than the average. It seems to me there 

 is no good reason why men should keep cows which produce less than 145 

 pounds of butter-fat in a year. Yes, I will go further than that, and say I 

 believe there is no reason why the American dairyman should not, inside of 

 twenty-five years, be able to increase the production of the American cow to a 

 point where she will produce twice as much as she does to-day — if he will 

 only adopt a business system in connection with his dairy and stick to it. 



In the first place, he has no business keeping a cow which produces less 

 than 145 pounds of butter-fat a year; and if he will do as the corn grower 

 does- — select the good individuals for breeding purposes — I see no reason why 

 the individual dairyman should not be able to reach a production of 300 

 pounds of butter-fat per cow in a very few years. 



We must select from our dairy cows those that show the best dairy qualities, 

 and breed them to bulls whose ancestors showed good dairy qualities. 



