272 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



Holstein." I did not consider the value of the calf because its value 

 varies so much in different communities. Some of your finest beef 

 calves, if vealed, would not bring enough money to pay for the milk they 

 drink, and if you figure on the cost of their feed to make baby beef, you 

 come out with a very small margin. We placed all the cows under the 

 the same conditions, except that I did not consider the comparison of 

 solids, not fat in the milk of the Holsteins and Jerseys. This done the 

 Jersey would very closely approach the Holstein in net profit. 



The poorest Jersey made a profit of only a little over $35, the best 

 Holstein $97, while the poorest Holstein made only $38.16, as against 

 $90.58 for the best Jersey. Again I must emphasize the fact that it is not 

 the breed but the cow that does the business. I do not hesitate to say that 

 you find the same comparisoi; of good cows and poor cows in all breeds. 

 You will, of course, find a far larger per cent of dairy cows among dairy 

 breeds, but sometimes a scrub bred will produce more butter fat than a 

 dairy-bred cow. Take a dairy cow and feed her in a scrub barn, on 

 rough feed, not developing her capacity to give milk till she is a mother, 

 and she cannot hold her own with a well developed native. Of course 

 you find a larger per cent of profitable cows among the dairy breeds ; 

 they have been bred that way for hundreds of years, but the very fact that 

 they are Jerseys or Holsteins does not guarantee that they are going to 

 be money makers. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Mallory — I do not believe we have any business in figuring on 

 these poorest cows. 



Mr. Washburn — Yes we have, we want to know them so as to get 

 rid of them. 



QUANTITY AND QUALITY. 



Only a few days ago I was teaching our boys in the short course 

 the scoring and judging of cows. I wais telling them the points they must 

 look for in the cow that would do business. We emphasized capacity 

 and disposition, then we took our little score cards made out on that 

 basis and went down to the barn to score some cows. We went to one 

 cow that I gave full credit on capacity and on the milk giving organs, 

 but she had a heavy short neck, heavy thighs, thick and short body all 

 over. I gave her all I could ; I knew she looked like a pretty good busi- 

 ness animal. She scored 85. We scored another cow. She had a 

 beautiful dairy type, slender neck, prominent spines, thin covering of 

 the shoulder blades, loins strong, udder nearly perfect, a good disposi- 

 tion, and very good capacity for food. She scored 89. But we were not 



