Vermont Dairymen's Association. 85 



A dairy cow is worth in addition to the vakie of her carcass, 

 the sum on which her annual profit will pay 



6 per cent interest 

 2.3 " " taxes and insurance. 

 25 " " depreciation 



33.3 per cent, total. 



Business men will generally agree that the first two figures 

 amply cover the items w|hich they are set against. The 25 per 

 cent, depreciation means that a sinking fund is creited ■which 

 will in four years amount to the value of the cow above what her 

 carcass will fetch. It pre-supposes the usefulness of the cow 

 to continue four years. It is an average factor to be applied to 

 cows as they are found on the market. It may vary with the in- 

 dividual, etc. A young heifer may have a prospective period of 

 usefulness covering eight years' time, in which case the deprecia- 

 tion factor would be I2j4 per cent., instead of 25 per cent. On 

 the other hand an old cow may be expected to be useful for 

 only two years or perhaps only one, in which case 50 or 100 

 per cent, depreciation should be charged. 25 per cent, is then an 

 average factor based on a four year period of usefulness. 



It may be observed that this is an estimate rather than an 

 actuality. We approximate but cannot be mathematically exact. 

 For this reason it is desirable to be conservative and err on the 

 side of moderation. 



If this basis appears logical let us apply it to some of the 

 grades of cows that are kept for dairy purposes with view to 

 ascertaining their comparative values as dairy animals. This 

 may be shown very readily in a tabular form as follows : 



TABLi; OF COMPARATlVIi PRODUCTION OF COWS. 



Kind Annual Value at Cost Value in 



of pounds ^50 per of excess of 



cows. milk. 100 lbs. feed. Profit. carcase. 



Poor 2,000 $30.00 $40.00 $10.00 $30.00 



Average 3,000 4.5.00 45.00 00.00 00.00 



Fair 5,000 75.00 55.00 20.00 60.00 



Good 7,000 105.00 65.00 40.00 120.00 



Choice 10,000 150.00 75.00 75.00 225.00 



Pieterje II 30,000 450.00 100.00 350.00 1,050.00 



The comparison is somewhat startling, yet the figures appear 

 to be based upon sound logic, and solid business principles. 



Allowing $25, as an average value of a cow's carcass, we 

 may observe that in four years time the poor cow has sunk the 

 value of her carcass and five dollars of good money when kept 

 for dairy purposes. 



