DUAL-PURPOSE CATTLE 61 



manure. The supplementing of this store-made dung with 

 suitable concentrated fertilizers would also be an extra charge 

 to be added to the cost of the increased production from the 

 plough-land. 



Though the keeping of cattle for beef-production only on 

 arable land makes the nation a better return from its very 

 limited acreage, than does the practice of letting them pick up 

 a living off grass-land, there can be no defence of the purely 

 beef-cow under either system. The fact is that, owing to her 

 very low output, she fails fundamentally on economic principles. 

 A cow that gives 400 gallons of milk costs as much to main- 

 tain as one giving 800. That is to say, while in both cases a 

 large-framed animal must be kept alive and thriving, in the 

 one case there is a chance of a great surplus of milk, in the other 

 there is no such chance. The difference is well illustrated by 

 ascertaining what the gallon of milk costs in each case. It is 

 assumed that the 4OO-gallon cow is the one instanced in the 

 estimate on page 59 and that with her, as with the animal 

 giving double the quantity, calving takes place just at the advent 

 of the spring grass. 



Cow yielding 400 gallons. 



"Roots" 22,400 lb. -=-400 =56-00 Ib.'j 



Corn 1560 lb. -^-400 = 3-90 lb. ! Cost of i gallon of milk. 



Dry Fodder 1 5620 lb. -^-400 = 14-09 lb. J 



Cow yielding 800 gallons. 



" Roots " 22,400 lb. -f- 800 = 28-00 lb. ^| 



Corn 3000 lb. -=-8oo = 3-75 lb. j- Cost of i gallon of milk. 



Dry Fodder 7300 lb. -^ 800 = 9-1 Ib.J 



Or, putting the case in another way, it may be said that the 

 second 400 gallons of milk only costs 1440 lb. of corn and 

 1680 lb. of dry fodder and no ""roots." This is not strictly 

 accurate, for the good milker would not keep in the same^ 

 condition; she would lose more flesh than the "beef" animal. 

 This, in practice, is not altogether an advantage to the farmer; 

 sometimes it is quite the reverse. Many cows, while suckling, 



1 "Seeds" fodder reduced to hay. This cow's daily average ration will 

 therefore be: roots 60 lb., dry fodder 15 lb. and com 4lb. 



