132 Thirty-Sixth Annual Report of the 



words the average cow of one herd made $22.57 worth more 

 butter than her food cost, while the average cow of another 

 herd made $21.68 less than her food cost. 32 of the 100 herds 

 made a profit over and above the food cost and 68 failed to do 

 so. And this in three of the better dairy sections of this dairy 

 State of Vermont ! Let me once more revert to the fact that the 

 average butter production in these herds was probably if any- 

 thing a shade above rather than below the average, being 175 

 pounds per cow. The average milk production is not stated, but 

 it must have been in the close vicinity of 4,000 pounds. 



LOWEST, HIGHEST AND AVERAGE RESULTS. Vt. Cow Census. 



Lowest Highest Average 



Cost of food $32.90 $41.00 $3().50 



Creamery checks $15.82 $63.57 $34.00 



Pounds of butter fat. Lbs 72 270 150 



Pounds of batter. Lbs 84 315 175 



Price received for fat 19.7 cts. 27.2 cts. 22.7 cts. 



Creamery returns for a dollar 



spent for feed 42 cts. $ L57 93 cts. 



Profit and loss $21.68 loss $22.57 gain $2.50 loss 



32 herds made a profit ; 68 herds made a loss. 



CRITICISMS. 



The publication of these findings excited much comment 

 in Vermont dairy circles. Some men dismissed the matter in a 

 cursory fashion, simply saying that Mr. Lyon's name was slightly 

 mispronounced, that it should have been the synonym of falsifier. 

 Such an assumption is unwarranted. I hold no brief for this 

 gentleman or for the paper which he represents, but I firmly be- 

 lieve that he simply stated things as. he saw them and neither 

 misrepresented nor colored the results. Whether he saw them 

 correctly or not is another matter. Another equally well trained 

 eye might have given them different. The paper's reputation 

 as a dispenser of the dairy gospel is above reproach. Its senior 

 editor, who more than any other man has been the father and 

 promotor of the cow census idea, has nothing but kindly feelings 

 towards Vermonters, whom he has several times addressed in 

 meetings of this character to their great edification. In brief, 

 the most that can be imputed are errors of judgment. 



The published results of this study have led some of the 

 members of this Association to express themselves in the public 

 print. Some have dipped their pens in ink, others in tears, and 

 some, I fear, in oil of vitriol. Vituperation is not worth con- 

 sideration. Abuse is a poor answer to argument. Mortification 

 is a better mental attitude to assume, though not a necessary 



