STATE DAIRY ASSOCIATION. 2/1 



fifteen or twenty cows, the addition of a good cow would not be 'worth as 

 much as a sharp lead pencil. 



THE BUSINESS DAIRYMAN. . 



Right here I shall take the liberty of turning my subject around, 

 making it read, "The Business Dairyman for the Business Cow." 



There is a difference in profit not only with different breeds but also 

 with different individual cows of the same breed. I want you to compare 

 the best Shorthorn, which we consider a dual purpose or beef animal, with 

 the poorest one of the best dairy breeds in the world. The profit on 

 the best Shorthorn was $83.25, while the profit on the poorest Holstein 

 was only $38.16 for the year. The poorest Shorthorn made only 125 

 pounds of butter in a year. What business had she to be classed as a 

 dairy cow? But the poorest Holstein made only 246 pounds of butter 

 in the year and she was a full blooded Holstein, The best Holstein at 

 the St. Louis cow demonstration made 329.7 pounds of butter in four 

 months or twice as much as the average cow gives in a whole year, while 

 the best Jersey at St. Louis was but a shadow behind in the quantity of 

 butter produced. 



Now I do not say that every farmer could have a cow like either of 

 these, because there are not cows enough like these to go around, but 

 when cows are capable of making such records as these, it shows us that 

 we ought to be ashamed to keep in the dairy a cow that will give only 

 125 pounds of butter in a year, or what the average Missouri cow does, 

 130 pounds a year. It takes a business man to get down into the business 

 and conduct it in a businesslike manner. A better cow is all right, but a 

 better dairyman is still better, because he can think. 



Of the Red Polls the best cow gave for the year 7,225 pounds of 

 milk and 361 pounds of butter, while the poorest one gave 5,249 pounds 

 of milk and 236 pounds of butter. The profit on the best cow was $58.44, 

 while the profit on the poorest cow was only $30.36, a difference of 

 $28.08, with a difference of only eight cents in the cost of their feed for 

 the entire year. The difference was not in the breed, nor in the care 

 and management of the cows, nor the time of the year, but the difference 

 Was in the cows. It is not the breed nor the pedigree, but the cow that 

 must eat the feed and give the milk. Keep your dairy herd on that basis 

 and cull out the poorest ones; there is wonderful room for improve- 

 ment. 



The best Jersey gave 6,523 pounds of milk, less than the poorest 

 Holstein, but she gave 532 pounds of butter, as against 538 given by the 

 best Holstein. It costs a little less to keep her than the best Holstein and 

 her annual net income was $90.58 as compared with $97.15 for the best 



