ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XI 



629 



Mr. Kinch joined the cow-testing association in 1899. It will be no- 

 ticed that he had 70 cows. The first year's testing revealed the fact that 

 only 28 of them possessed sufficient merit to be deemed fit for breeding 

 purposes, and the remainder of the herd was disposed of. The heifers of 

 these 28 cows were raised and added to the herd, which kept increasing 

 in numbers until in the seventh year it contained one more cow than in 

 the first year. The increased yields shown in this table were accomplished 

 by the selection of cows of large and economical production, and their 

 progeny, combined with the use of improved sires. Naturally, with in- 

 creasing production, the cows consumed more feed, something an owner 

 can look at with satisfaction when he sees, as in this case, a gradual in- 

 crease in yield per 100 feed units and a correspondingly satisfactory de- 

 crease in the cost of production. Assuming a cost of 2.6 cents for each 

 feed unit and a price of 30 cents a pound for butter, the extra clear profit 

 from 70 cows the last year was $2,549.40 more than it was the first year, 

 when Mr. Kinch joined the cow-testing association. The cost of obtaining 

 these records was less than $1 per cow, or less than $70 a year; and, as- 

 suming that the cost of purchasing good sires was offset by the increased 

 commercial value of the herd, it means that an outlay of less than $70 a 

 year brought an income of $2,549.40. 



Assuming that the profit from the cows could be applied to pay off 

 the mortgage on a farm, a man with a herd of 70 cows like those owned 

 by Mr. Kinch in 1900 could pay off a mortgage of $10,000.00 in 29 years; 

 while the profits from 70 cows such as those owned by Mr. Kinch in 

 1909 would pay this mortgage in less than four years. 



The following table shows the result of ten years' testing in the Lunda- 

 trakten Cow-Testing Association in Sweden: 



RECORD OF A SWEDISH COW-TESTING ASSOCIATION FOR TEN TEARS. 



I 



- t., 



<V (D 





<u.So 



< 



as 



as 

 wo 



££ 



► O I 

 < 



100 feed units 

 gave— 



is 

 ~ o 



-CL, 



a 



i- a 



£3 



Z o 



3- 

 « 



First year | 6,890 



Second year ' 6,582 



Third year i 7,357 



Fourth year ' 7,692 



Fifth year i 7,653 



Sixth year ._ 8,268 



Seventh year ' 9,155 



Eighth year I 9,338 



Ninth year 9,183 



Tenth year __ \ 10,064 



Increase 3,174 



3.11 

 3.11 

 3.16 

 3.17 

 3.04 

 3.04 

 3.05 

 3.15 

 3.15 

 3.12 



236 

 225 

 256 

 268 

 256 

 277 

 307 

 324 

 319 

 345 



9.1 

 9.1 

 10.2 

 11.1 

 11.2 

 11.3 

 11.8 

 12.3 

 12.3 

 12.6 



3.5 



