384 . IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



convention, a Dairy Cattle show. This does not mean that the butter- 

 maker is to be overlooked. It does mean that he is to have more atten- 

 tion than ever before, and will be asked to co-operate with his patrons 

 and try and get them to milk more and better cows. Another new 

 feature of our meeting this year is the "buttermaker's hour" under the 

 direction of your worthy Vice-President F. L. Stephenson. If there are 

 any matters that you are interested in that will help our convention do 

 not fail to bring them up for discussion so they may be incorporated 

 another year. 



The public has criticised the dairy farmer on account of the advanced 

 price of dairy products. When the cost of producing a pound of butter 

 or a gallon of milk is compared with the same ten years ago, this criti- 

 cism is entirely unfounded. 



A recent government bulletin gives the cost of maintenance of a cow 

 for a year as a little more than double that of ten years ago. When 

 you take into consideration the value of land, the cost of buildings, labor 

 and the various things that must be counted, we are not surprised 

 at this conclusion. Feed has more than doubled in value. Going a little 

 further back, say twenty or twenty-five years, the writer recalls having 

 bought first-class bran for $4.00 per ton and the finest of clover hay for 

 $3.50 per ton. Is it not fair to say that if milk sold at five cents per 

 quart at that time good milk should bring ten cents per quart now. If 

 it were understood by the housewives and people generally that a quart 

 of 4 per cent milk contained more body supporting food than three-fourths 

 of a pound of the best beefsteak and as much as eight average eggs the 

 sale of milk would be doubled. Beefsteak costs from 20 to 25 cents per 

 pound and dairy people should be more diligent than they have been in 

 educationg the public along these lines. Milk is the most nearly perfect 

 of all foods, as it contains in an easily digestible form all the nutritive 

 elements required for the body. The increased cost brings us face to 

 face with another question — "How can we reduce this cost of production?" 



We may, by the use of a silo, nearly double the value of our corn 

 crop, but there is no way that we have been able to buy bran, gluten and 

 other feeds at less than market price. Recent reports show that a cow 

 that produces 450 pounds of butter fat per year does so at about half 

 the cost per pound as does the one that only makes 200 pounds per year. 

 This means that we must have "better cows or make no money. The 

 150 and 200 pound cow must be replaced as soon as possible with those 

 that will yield 250 to 350 pounds. An increase of 50 pounds per cow 

 would mean an increased income to Iowa of $18,750,000. We should not 

 be satisfied with this. One hundred pounds per cow is not an extravagant 

 amount to anticipate. This would give the net increase of $37,500,000. 

 How insignificant our appropriation of $5,000 per year is compared with 

 the former figures. 



The distribution of this money over our state would mean the better- 

 ment of the conditions of every man, woman and child. The general 

 business of the state would receive an impetus. Every man from the 

 common laborer to the merchant, banker or professional man would fin- 

 ally come into his share. 



