DISEASES OF CATTLE 



337 



300. Dairy Records. Every dairyman should keep 

 records of milk-production of the different cows, in order 

 that he may know which ones pay. Many cows do not 

 pay their board. These are often obscured by the profits 

 that come from the good cows. 

 The opinion of the farmer as to 

 the relative merits of the cows 

 is usually not correct. A spring 

 balance, weighing pounds and 

 tenths of pounds, with a sheet 

 of paper beside it, will enable 

 one to weigh the milk quickly. 

 It may be weighed at every 

 milking, but, if this is too much 

 work, the following method will 

 give a fairly accurate compari- 

 son: Weigh the milk for three 

 days at the beginning of each 

 month. The sum of the weights, 

 multiplied by ten will give the 

 year's production. Take samples from each cow for the 

 Babcock test in the second, fourth and seventh months 

 after the cow freshened. Each time take samples for two 

 days. The average of the three tests will give the ap- 

 proximate per cent of fat. 



FIG. 172. Weighing the milk to 

 find which cows pay 



SOME DISEASES OF CATTLE 



301. Tuberculosis is one of the most serious diseases 

 of cattle. It not only causes great loss in cattle, but is 

 even more serious with hogs that are fed on the milk 



