VAN PELT'S COW DE'M0&ST<RATl6k ; . S '$ ' A 



Cost of Production 



Greatness of production as proven by weighing and test- 

 ing the milk is not the complete record of the greatness of 

 the cow, for the question still remains as to the cost of pro- 

 duction. And, after all, this is the vital question and the one 

 that is growing in importance continually. It is the rule 

 that the cow which yields largely of milk and butter-fat is 

 the economical producer, but it often occurs that of two cows 

 producing the same amounts of milk and butter-fat in a given 

 time one of them does so at a much less cost for feed. 



True it is that the difference in profits is not so largely 

 governed by the cost of feed as in the yield, but, as conditions 

 change, land becomes higher in price, feeds and labor scarcer 

 and more expensive, this difference will widen. 



Many dairymen even now weigh the food consumed by 

 their individual cows, and by doing so reduce their business 

 to the same commercial basis considered absolutely necessary 

 in other lines of business. It pays, and pays well, for, if in 

 no other way, it teaches the feeder the capacity and the 

 ability of each cow. It enables him to exact the best work 

 from her. Practical lessons of this sort are the valuable ones 

 in rendering reliable the opinions relative to both the selection 

 and feeding of cows for great and economical records. 



