476 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



The successful beef raiser is the man who has studied the conditions 

 of the feed lot thoroughly. He is the man who feeds the animal best 

 fitted for the economical manufacture of beef. The hogs which are a 

 source of profit to their owners are those highly bred animals that are 

 especially adapted for pork production. Likewise, the dairy cow, if she 

 is to be a profit-maker, must be a special purpose animal bred for the 

 specific purpose of converting the grains and grasses of the farm into 

 the finished products of milk and butter-fat at a minimum cost. 



Why is it that the average production of the so-called dairy cow is so 

 low and that two-thirds of the cows in the Middle West are kept at a loss? 

 The only answer is that they are the wrong kind of machine for the 

 place they are supposed to fill. Of course, the present type of dairy cow 

 cannot be abolished at once. It would be foolish, indeed, to advocate 

 that all the cows milked on the averaje farm should be disposed of and 

 others secured to take their places. This great change from unprofitable 

 to profitable cows must take place gradually and in a manner that will 

 involve the smallest expense. 



The only logical method of securing better dairy cattle is through the 

 pure bred sire. The cows should be subjected to a fair test and all those 

 producing a profit kept on the farm as the foundation for the future dairy 

 herd. These cows should be bred to a pure bred sire chosen from one of 

 the milking breeds. When the first cross calves arrive, they will have 

 fifty per cent of the sire's blood, and, if he is a good individual, the 

 daughters should be greater producers than their mothers. The first 

 generation should again be crossed with pure bred blood of the same breed, 

 thus making the resulting calves seventy-five per cent pure bred. By fol- 

 lowing this system of breeding, and by careful selection, the average herd 

 can be built up at a remarkable rate. 



The writer has in mind a certain farmer located in central Iowa, who, 

 six years ago, had a herd of twelve cows, nine of which were losing him 

 from $2 to $12 annually, and the remaining three returning an average 

 profit of $22. After determining the condition of his herd, the nine board- 

 ers were sold and the three returning a profit bred to a pure bred Holstein 

 bull, which was purchased at a cost of $95 when a yearling. The bull 

 proved very prepotent, and the owner, encouraged by the marked im- 

 provement of the daughters over their mothers, has continued to breed 

 up, until the second generation is producing an average of 220 pounds 

 of fat, an increase of sixty pounds over the production of their grand- 

 mothers. This man sees the necessity of having the most efficient ma- 

 chine in the proper place. He is on a farm similar to yours. Try his 

 plan of making the farm a factory and every animal on it a profitable 

 machine. 



SOURCES OP IMPURE MILK. 



The problem of raising the quality of butter in the creameries of Iowa 

 is one which concerns the farmers to a great extent. This is especially 

 true in the co-operative creameries where an increase in price means a 

 direct return to the stockholders. In many instances we find the butter- 

 maker held responsible for the poor class of butter, while in reality he is 



