DAIRY WORK AT THE EXPERIMKNT STATIONS. 361 



of the aj^iicnltiiiiist arc largely expended in looking alter these practical 

 farming- operations and managing the herd; the labor bills amount to 

 several thousand dollars, and the returns in some cases scanicly cover 

 the larm labor. Such an enterprise is <lirectly opi)()sed to the best inter- 

 ests of the legitimate experimental work of the station, and little is 

 accomplished of a practical nature which could not have been ascer- 

 tained equally well with a small herd. The object commonly sought is 

 to make a record of the herd, showing the milk yield, and the composite 

 test of the milk — frequently the mixed milk of the herd. Herd records 

 undoubtedly have a value, and will naturally be kept by a station hav- 

 ing any number of cows; but the maintenance of a large herd for this 

 purpose solely, or even mainly, is certainly questionable, and the more 

 so unless (juite full data are kept. The observations should be taken 

 for individual cows, and should be so kept and discussed as to furnish 

 some general deductions. 



The station may properly exert every influence to induce farmers to 

 ■weed out their herds and keep fewer and better cows. To illustrate 

 this forcibly by herd records an accurate financial account is necessary. 

 Such data as the amount and cost of grain eaten by the individual cows, 

 the approximate amount and cost of coarse fodder, the yield, composi- 

 tion, and value of the milk, and the probable yields of butter or cheese, 

 are necessary factors for discussing the record. If the station has a 

 herd composed entirely of good cows the application of the record is 

 less forceful. Often greater interest can be aroused by making trials 

 at private dairy farms where the herd is of mixed quality. 



Unless there be some specific object in view, which does not always 

 appear to be the case, there is little of public interest to be gained by 

 a lengthy test of the herd, and the station can not aftbrd to make it 

 more than an incidental part of its dairy work. 



It is believed to be entirely feasible, by proper planning ahead, to so 

 vary the conditions of feed, general treatment, and handling or use of 

 the milk of a small station herd, that data of scientific value, which will 

 have a bearing on some point of interest in dairying, may be secured 

 from the herd during the greater part of the time when it is not actually 

 under e^^periment. Some of this it will be desirable to publish, but 

 much of it will beunsuited to immediate publication. The latter should 

 be written up and discussed under appropriate heads in the permanent 

 records, and subsequently added to until some safe deductions are 

 possible. 



It is believed to be a mistake for a station to confine itself to the 

 purely practical or commercial side of dairying or to undertake sonuich 

 work of this character that it will not be able to do some work of an 

 investigational nature. There shouhl be from the first a combination 

 of the purely practical work with investigations along scientific lines, 

 and as time advances it will be possible gradually t(> develop this in- 

 vestigational side. We must recognize this as the line along which 



