196 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



A GRADE DAIRY HERD. 



BY CLINTON D. SMITH. 



Bulletin 166. — Farm Department. 



The usefulness of the Babcock test and scales in selecting from a herd the cows 

 which are turnin."- little or no ]irofits to the owner has been often demonstrated. 

 When, however, a dairyman finds it necessary to purchase in a limited time a herd 

 of twenty-five or thirty .crade dniry cows, he can scarcely expect to use these mod- 

 ern appliances. No farmer is willing to sell his be&t cow, and could the buyer weigh 

 her milk and test it for a week's time it would be no advantage to him, because 

 the owner, having his estimate of the value of his cow confirmed, would refuse to 

 sell her. Often the buyer has not sufficient time to make tests of milk of the cows 

 he buys. As he drives fi'om farm to farm making his purchases he must depend 

 upon the lessons derived from his experience and study to teach him to judge, by 

 the form and handling of a cow, her ability in the dairy. 



In bulletins 127 and 1^9, and in several annual reports of the Station, the records 

 of many cows in the herd of pure breds at the College are given. It has been our 

 good fortune to develop Holsteins and Jerseys that have given enormous yields of 

 milk and butter with relatively small expenditure of food. The lessons to be drawn 

 both from the extraordinary yields and their small cost were not impressed upon the 

 dairy community because it was believed that the chief factor in them was the breed 

 of the coAv. It was thought that the success of the Station in this line of work was 

 to be attributed very largely, if not wholly, to the excellence of the foundation stock. 

 To test the efficacy of good feed and continuous good care on the development of dairy 

 cows and to test further the question whether a o-j-ade dairy herd should be kept at 

 a profit under conditions existing in central Michigan, the State Board having the 

 Experiment Station in control decided to purchase a herd of thirty grade cows, to 

 erect for their shelter a barn of sufficienr size and to feed and care for them as a 

 prudent and economical dairy farmer would do. 



The College had no special facilities for Imying cows. Enquiry was made by 

 letter as to the price of cows in different localities and as to their breeding as well. 

 Visits were made to those sections where it was reported that good grade Short- 

 horn cows were to be had, livery rigs were hired and a canvass made of the terri- 

 lory from farm to farm, following the ordinary methods of the stock buyer. In 

 no community visited were cows found to be either plenty or low in price. To secure 

 rhe number determined upon it was found necessary to buy neai'ly eveiy cow 

 offered. Nine cows were purchased in the vicinity of Delhi Mills and Dexter, in 

 Washtenaw county, seven were bought near Bay City and thirteen in Ingham and 

 adjoining counties. Although the breeding of few of the cows could be ascertained 

 it was evident from their appearance that most of them had a strong infusion of 

 Shorthorn blood in their veins. The cows designated as Nos. 86 and 97 show some 

 .Jersey blood, while Nos. 87 and 101 evidently trace to some Holstein ancestor. 

 Twenty-one cows were bought between August 2.5th and September 30th, 1897, seven 

 were delivered at the College October Gth, and one cow was received as late as 

 October 20th. 



The herd was housed in a dairy barn built for the purpose and described on page 

 116, of Bulletin 149. This barn was barely completed in the arrival of the herd and 

 provided storage room for hay, grain and bedding only. The silage had to be hauled 

 fortv rods from the silos at anoUier barn. 



