752 



IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



be noticed, however, that the man who makes the milking a part 

 of the day's work instead of attaching it as something in addition 

 to a normal day's work, has little or no difficulty on this score. It 

 is not the milking itself that many hired men and boys object to, 

 but that on many farms they are compelled to do this work early in 

 the morning and late at night in addition to a full day's work in the 

 field. 



IOWA'S AVERAGE PRODUCTION LOW. 



In spite of the fact that dairy cows as a class are very economical 

 producers, many cows milked in Iowa at the present time do not 

 pay for their feed, in milk and butter fat. It is safe to say that 

 the average amount of butter fat produced by the cows in Iowa 

 does not exceed 140 pounds per cow per year. At the same time 

 there are many animals in the state that have produced over 5 00 

 pounds, several have exceeded 700 pounds, a few 800 pounds and 

 the Guernsey cow. Dairy Maid of Pinehurst, produced 910.67 pounds 

 of butter fat in one year. The world's record for all breeds is 

 1058.34 pounds of butter fat, produced by the Holstein cow, Banos- 

 tine Belle DeKol. Another cow of the same breed, Creamelle Vale, 

 holds the world's milk record for one year, with 29,591 pounds of 

 milk. Considering the fact that the cost of keeping a cow is not 

 in proportion to her production, for poor, unprofitable cows in 

 many cases are fed the same rations as large and profitable pro- 

 ducers in the same herd, it can readily be appreciated that the 

 present low average production is unsound and unbusinesslike. 



This condition is due both to inferior cows and to improper care, 

 feed and management of the cows. Either one or both factors may 



Fig. 1. Four pure bred Holstein cows owned by Iowa State College. 

 Average record for one year 16660.3 pounds milk, 557.57 pounds butter 

 fat, average test 3.34%, average net income for butter fat after deducting 

 cost of feed, $110.21 per cow. 



