THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



measure and expenses can be reduced, and 

 the various sharks that beset dairy inter- 

 ests can be driven off. 



As to the cost of running a dairy in a 

 first-class way, the following official fig- 

 ures will be of great importance. They 

 show the receipts, expenditures and prof- 

 its of the Ohio State University dairy for 

 a year: 



Pounds of milk produced 160,554,000 



Receipts for milk $3,842.75 



ost of food 983.76 



-Cost of labor 1,595.44 



Total expenditures 2, 579. 20 



Net gain 11,333.55 



There was an average of about twenty- 

 six cows actually in milk in the dairy 

 during the year. As cows are bought 

 and sold, not the same twenty-six cows 

 were in the herd throughout the year. 

 There are generally, also, three or four 

 dry cows in the herd. From the summary 

 it will be seen that for the number of cows 

 actually in milk 6,175 pounds of milk 

 were given per cow. The cost of food per 

 cow was $37.83, and the cost for labor 

 was $61.36, making the total expense per 

 cow in milk, nearly $100. The labor, 

 however, included a considerable amount 

 of experimental work and also the labor 

 of taking care of dry cows, heifers, calves 

 -and bulls. It also includes the cost of re- 

 tailing the milk. The cost for food only 

 relates to the cows in milk. Assuming 8.6 

 pounds per gallon of milk, the cost of food 

 per gallon of milk is 5. 2 cents, the cost for 

 labor per gallon of milk 8.5 cents, while 

 the average price received for milk on this 

 basis was 20. 5 cents. It will be seen that 

 the average cost of a gallon of milk re- 

 tailed to consumers was 13. 7 cents. The 

 real cost, however, is somewhat greater 

 than this, because more than 8.6 pounds 

 are required for a gallon of milk when 

 peddled to the consumers. It is worthy 

 of notice that the work was all done by 

 students, for which, it will be seen, they 

 received $1,595.44. The gross income 

 from each cow actually in milk was$147.80, 

 the expense $99. 19, leaving a net income 

 per cow of $48. 61, or, fora herd of twenty- 

 six cows, a net gain of $1,333.55. 



Cherry Culture. IK planting cher- 

 ries avoid all conditions that are calcu- 

 lated to force a strong growth of wood 

 and select sites that will tend to retard 



development in the early spring. Fruit 

 buds if too far advanced are liable to be 

 killed by the late frosts when the tree 

 itself is quite bard. To prevent the bark 

 bursting, as is frequently the case in the 

 West, the tree should be trained to branch 

 near the ground. The low branches seem 

 to be the better method for growing cher- 

 ries in all the Western country. In Rus- 

 sia, where the cherry is successfully grown, 

 the bush form has proven the most con- 

 venient and best producer. The trees 

 should be planted on rather light, well- 

 drained soil, on a northern slope if pos- 

 sible. Water should be used sparingly 

 and the soil cultivated sufficient to induce 

 a moderate and definite annual growth. 



Do Your Hens Lay? Yea, I feed 

 my forty-five pullets three mornings in the 

 week, six quarts finely chopped hay, tim- 

 othy and clover mixed, six quarts boiling 

 water and two quarts each of bran and 

 middlings; two mornings, four quarts of 

 small potatoes and turnips boiled, mashed 

 and mixed with two quarts each of bran . 

 and middlings, and two mornings, the 

 same amount of bran and middlings mixed 

 with scalding hot milk. At noon I throw 

 a basketful or two of chaff from the barn 

 floor to them. At night I give three 

 pints of wheat or, when very cold, two 

 quarts of corn heated in the oven. Some- 

 times I substitute a quart of oil meal 

 for the two quarts of middlings in the 

 morning. In addition the hens have all 

 the bones from our beef and pork, oyster 

 shells and scraps from the lard and tallow. 

 The latter, chopped fine, are fed twice a 

 week, three pints at a time in the morning. 



The Irrigation Farmer. Irri- 

 gated farms have a tendency to induce 

 their owners to cultivate crops that will 

 pay the largest profits, and the irrigation 

 farmer is, in a vast majority of cases, a 

 man of high intelligence, who studies to 

 make his land as profitable as possible. 

 He has broken loose from the traditions 

 of his forefathers because he is surrounded 

 by different conditions. He has learned 

 what it means to control the water supply 

 of his laud, and he seeks to take advantage 

 of this tremendous lever to cultivate his 

 acres. Farming, with him, is a science, 

 in which he has learned that the condi- 

 tions which tend toward success are great- 

 ly in his favor, if intelligently applied, 



