594 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF 'AGRICULTURE. 



I have sometimes thought that perhaps part of the hustle to maturity 

 on the part of the Jersey calf was ifs effort to get big soon to avoid its 

 early diet as soon as possible. It seems that cod-liver oil forms quite a 

 part of its early food on its native heath. 



This may account in part for the scarcity of consumption among Jersey 

 cattle. 



BUILDING UP A DAIRY HERD. 



From Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. ISl/. 

 By Mr. Eclivard Van Alstyne, Denmark, N. Y. 



I want to talk to you in a very practical way, to, I presume, a com- 

 pany of very practical men. I suppose the aim of this address is that 

 we may obtain a more profitable cow in our dairy. And in what I 

 have to say to-day, as well as to-morrow, I wish you to understand 

 that it is not to the wealthy man, the man with unlimited means 

 at his command to purchase the very best that money can buy, that I 

 am talking; he is not the man that I have in view at all; he is a very 

 popular factor in society, but the man whose every wish is obtainable 

 is not the man that I have in sight. It is the ordinary man, like 

 myself. I say this because I think it will be best for us to clearly 

 understand one another. 



I think that we to-day want a better dairy cow than ever before. I 

 say that, because I fear that in many instances the farmer is keeping 

 his cows with but little profit. What is the profit on the dairy cow? 

 Is it that she simply pays for he keep, and makes a minimum of profit? 

 That is not going to pay off the mortgage, and clothe the children, on 

 the farm. The first thing we expect of a cow is that she will pay interest 

 on the money invested in her. If we take three or five hundred dollars 

 to the savings bank, we get three and one-half per cent interest, without 

 the trouble of working for it. If we put it out at interest, we get 

 from five to six per cent; as you increase the risk, you increase the 

 interest. When we Invest it in a cow, three and one-half per cent is not 

 enough, nor five, nor six per cent, because we are not sure that we 

 can get it back when we want it. I find that in a herd of twenty-five 

 cows it is necessary to replace at least five each year to keep the herd 

 in good condition. Some of them may go barren, and some of them 

 may lose part of the udder, one may die. So I figure that on the 

 money invested in the dairy cow, I should have at least ten per cent 

 to equal the interest on the same amount of money invested elsewhere. 

 So if we pay fifty dollars for a cow we should have at least five dollars 

 profit on her. The next practical thought is her feed. As I said before, 

 she should pay for her keep before we begin to make any profit on her. 

 And the labor; what does it cost to milk her three hundred days in 

 the year, Sundays and holidays included? At least ten dollars more on 

 that. So I figure that I must have at least ten dollars over and above 

 the cost of her feed, and the interest on the money invested in her, be- 

 fore I begin to make money on her. 



