79 



good "guess" at the relative value, it is astonishing how they 

 will be surprised at the result of a systematic testing and 

 account keeping. Many a cow that has made a good im- 

 pression by a great flow of milk for a few months, will be 

 found at the foot of the list at the end of the year! It is a 

 surprisingly lack of business system not to know exactly 

 what each cow is paying for her board, and it is much less 

 work than people believe to rule a book like this. 



Weekly recard of Cow No .... Born The 



calf dropped Served Due 



and weigh each cow's milk once a week, testing it, if not 

 once, then every other week. I say testing because it mat- 

 ters not whether the milk for city supply is now paid by the 

 gallon, it is only a question of time when it will be paid ac- 

 cording to butterfat. 



Any spring scale hung up in the stable will do, though 

 I prefer other scales, say some- 

 thing like the Mahler (Ger- 

 many) scale illustrated in Fig. 

 77. It is made (as shown) to be 

 bolted to the wall or for stand- 

 ing on the floor and has a desk 

 for the record book. It seems 

 to me that this should be more 

 reliable than the spring scales, 

 which will sooner or later be 

 affected by rust. 



The keeping of such records 

 will help to create an interest in 

 the work of the milkers, an am- 

 bition to keep up the flow. 



If co-operation is possible, the formation of TEST AS- 

 SOCIATIONS on the Danish plan is to be recommended. 



Fig. 77. 



