502 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



and swansy dollar den dot vos britty good." The Dutchman is not the 

 only one guilty of such logic. 



A good illustration of agreement in selecting a cow is here given to 

 show that outward signs and appearances may probably be, and in my 

 mind surely is worth a great deal in making selections. My neighbor, a 

 man of limited dairy education, a stingy reader, but a man of thirty years' 

 practical experience feeding cows, was in attendance at a farm sale where 

 twenty-five cows were to be sold. The writer and one, R. S. Wooster, a 

 dairyman of scholarly attainments were present. Wooster desired to de- 

 termine to his satisfaction whether my neighbor and myself would select 

 the same cow as the best one in the twenty-five. Accordingly he detailed 

 one man to take my neighbor away and get his decision. Mr. Wooster 

 treated the writer likewise. The same cow was selected. The sale was 

 genuine. All cows were sold but this one and the reason given was "that 

 is the woman's cow." Here then you have agreement between two men and 

 the woman who did the milking. It is highly probable, therefore, that 

 this was the best cow in the twenty-five. A wide awake, money making 

 German in our locality had observed our selections of cows for several years 

 and told me but two years ago that he had always wondered how it was I 

 could pay $45 to $50 for a cow when the average were selling at $30 to $35. 

 He says: "I discovered your ideas. Accordingly my selections were made 

 principally on the point that the cow should have no disposition to carry 

 beef." This German actually received $20 to $25 per month more for the 

 same number of cows than his neighbors. His ideas of selection were only 

 moderately good, but he had wonderfully improved his former conditions. 



I always have been and am at present an exponent for the large dairy 

 cow. When I say large I mean a cow weighing 1,000 to 1,300. Of course, 

 size alone would not govern my selection. I want size coupled with in- 

 dividual excellence in other more important characteristics. Those of you 

 who saw the twenty-five World's Fair Jerseys will agree with me that 

 they were uniformly large for the breed. That lesson must have aroused 

 enthusiastic dairymen to some of the possibilities in dairying. It has 

 always seemed to me that animals require maintenance somewhat in pro- 

 portion to surface exposure. The cost of producing a pound of beef if 

 known to increase as the weight of the animal increases. May that not be 

 due to variation in the per cent of food digested in different stages of 

 growth and not to the amount actually needed for bodily maintenance. 

 Compare two cubical blocks two and three feet on a side respectively. One 

 has eight, the other twenty-seven cubic feet. One has fifty-four, the other 

 fifty-four square feet of exposed surface. The large block has three times as 

 many cubic feet and about twice as many exposed surface feet. What is 

 true of these blocks is true of cows, so far as surface exposure is concerned. 

 Take for example W. L. Carlyle's of Madison, Wisconsin, Rose, a grade 

 Short-Horn, weighing 1,550 ate $33.93, and butter costs 7.7 cents. Here 

 butter for 6.9 cents. While Daisy, a Guernsey grade, weighing 980 con- 

 sumed $31.86 in feed and produced butter for 7.1 cents. Another grade 

 Short-Horn, weighing 1.550 ate $33.93, and butter cost 7.7 cents. Here 

 is a case of a cow weighing 570 more than Daisy, eating but $1.97 worth 



