CHAPTER XIII. 

 BREEDING FOR MILK PRODUCTION. 



In 1919, there were 23,467,000 dairy cows on farms in the 

 United States, and they were valued at $78.24 per head. If 

 put in single file, allowing ten feet of space for each animal^ 

 they would make a line over 44,000 miles long, or would form 

 a procession fourteen abreast from New York to San Francisco. 



On January 1, 1919, the leading states in numbers of dairy 

 cows, and their average prices per head, were as follows: 



1. Wisconsin . . . . 1,803,000 $82. 6. Texas . . . . 1,060,000 $63 . 



2. New York 1,478,000 89. 7. Ohio 1,030,000 83. 



3. Iowa 1,381,000 86. 8. Pennsylvania. . . 979,000 85. 



4. Minnesota 1,368,000 78. 9. Kansas 964,000 81. 



5. Illinois 1,060,000 90. 10. Missouri 919,000 74. 



The distribution of dairy cows, by geographical divisions, 

 on January 1, 1919, was as follows: 



No*th Atlantic . . 3,515,000 



South Atlantic 1,963,000 



North Central, East of Mississippi River 5,454,000 



North Central, West of Mississippi River 6,284,000 



South Central 4,294,000 



Far Western.. 1,957,000 



Total, United States 23,467,000 



No greater strides have been made in animal breeding 

 during recent years than have been made by breeders of pure- 

 bred dairy cattle. The methods used are very practical because 

 they are based on accurate knowledge of the producing ability 

 of the animals bred, such knowledge being secured by tests of 

 the various cows in the herd. The dairyman engaged in the 

 production of market milk or butter-fat has, in many instances, 

 seen the benefits arising from keeping records and using them 

 as a basis for improving his herd and has greatly benefited by 

 adopting the methods used by the more progressive breeders 

 of purebred dairy cattle. There is great need for the improve- 

 ment of the average dairy cow of the country. The small num- 

 ber of purebred dairy cows makes it inadvisable to recommend 

 that this improvement shall be accomplished by replacing the 

 average cow with a purebred cow, and that all milk and butter- 

 fat shall be produced by purebred cattle. However, this ideal 

 is easily possible of close approximation by using purebred dairy 



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