EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 445 



if one computes the average profit on all the profitable dairies and the 

 average loss on all the unprofitable ones, it would be expressed as fol- 

 lows: 



Average yearly profit for 18 dairies |281.43 



Average yearly loss for 7 dairies 256.61 



If the number of profitable and unprofitable dairies were expressed in 

 terms of per cent the showing would be as follows : 



Number of profitable dairies 72% 



Number of unprofitable dairies 28% 



Some readers will want to know why these unprofitable dairies were 

 operated at a loss. In other words, they will ask the investigators to 

 diagonse the case and locate the trouble. The following brief notes in- 

 dicate the major causes. 



Dairy No. 2. 



Lost in 1915. Main cause was tuberculosis, the loss from this source 

 averaging |25.69 for every cow kept in the herd. The secondary cause 

 for loss was the low price received for the milk product. The gallon sell- 

 ing price each year was less than the general average of all sale prices. 



Dairy No. 3. 



Lost in 1914. The dry summer of 1913 caused a marked shortage of 

 dairy feeding crops. This farm being one of those where a considerable 

 amount of summer feeding was necessarily practiced, the more expen- 

 sive winter feeding of 1913-14 was not relieved by resourceful and cheap 

 pastures in the summer of 1914, consequently the sustained supplement- 

 tary feeding absorbed the possible profits and entered the field of real 

 loss. 



Dairy No. 7. 



Lost in 1914. The feeding conditions on this farm were quite similar 

 to those of Dairy No. 3, mentioned above. More expensive cartage of 

 feeds and hauling of milk are responsible for additional losses. The 

 milk hauling alone exceeded the average cost by 18.75 per cow. 



Dairy No. 10. 



Lost in 1914 and also in 1915. The loss during 1914 cannot be attrib- 

 uted to any particular cause or class of causes. The loss for 1915 may 

 be explained by a rather low production. A portion of this low produc- 

 tion was directly chargeable to several cases of udder trouble, some far- 

 row cows, and one death. 



Dairy No. 12. 



Lost in 1914 and also in 1915. The main reason for the losses on this 

 farm was the large number of animals condemned on account of tuber- 

 culosis during the year 1914. The lower selling price for the second 

 year, grade of milk being duly considered, was the leading cause of loss. 



Dairy No. Hi. 



Lost in 1914 and also in 1915. This farm was not equipped with a 

 silo. The production was consequently lower and the feeds relatively 



