188 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



much milk and nine times as much fat as another in a year. As 

 was stated before, a cow per acre means nothing, and has nothing 

 to do with it. The object is to show the possibilities in milk produc- 

 tion. It is much too early to draw definite conclusions, as it will re- 

 quire the average of several years to obtain results from which such 

 conclusions can be drawn, but the present indications are that if 

 every acre of the farm is made to produce a good crop every year, 

 and this crop be well harvested and saved in good condition and fed 

 to the dairy herd, every individual of which is a good, economical 

 producer, it would multiply the present profits in milk production on 

 our dairy farms about five times as it is well known that the combined 

 results of good tillage, good seed, good crops, well harvested and 

 saved and intelligently fed to efficient dairy cows, are astonishingly 

 great. (Univ. 111. B. 143.) 



Intensive dairy farming considers the economy used as well 

 as the conservation of energy and labor. Many farmers maintain 

 only a few cows, and it is as important for them to apply the most 

 modern methods to the feeding and care of the small herd as it is 

 for the great dairy farmer. It costs as much to feed a cow which 

 gives only a small quantity of milk as it does the one which gives 

 three or four times as much. So it is a matter of economy as well 

 as of profit to keep only first class dairy cattle. The high grade of 

 the herd should be maintained by carefully eliminating the poor 

 milkers and replacing them by first class stock. Correct feeding is 

 another very important factor in making the dairy cows pay. 



A good flow of milk can be obtained from feeding simply corn 

 stover, clover hay, and the bran from corn and wheat, together with 

 some straw. On a feeding experiment, several cows produced as 

 high as 40 pounds of milk per day for 50 days, on corn silage, alfalfa 

 hay, and straw, and there is no question but that this is an economi- 

 cal method of milk production. (Univ. 111. B. 143.) 



The crops raised on dairy farms are of the greatest importance. 

 Corn and alfalfa are the two crops returning by far the most digest- 

 ible nutrients per acre. The corn should be put in the silo and the 

 alfalfa made into hay. They make a balanced ration without the 

 addition of high priced purchased feeds, resulting in a great saving 

 over the common method of feeding on the dairy farms. One 

 farmer in Illinois had 8 cows on an official test that produced 136,- 

 715 pounds of milk, or an average of 17,089 pounds per cow. If 

 this milk had been sold at wholesale on the Chicago market it would 

 have brought $2,187. Sold, as it was, at 7 cents per quart, it brought 

 $570 per cow, or a total of $4,558 not at all bad as an income from 

 only eight cows, and their calves are not the kind that are given 

 away at the present time. (Univ. 111. B. 143.) 



Intensive Farming Applied to Fruit. The usual aim of the 

 fruit grower as well as the farmer is to produce large quantities of 

 salable produce with the least amount of labor and invested capital. 

 In many cases, especially in opening up new countries, extensive 

 methods were probably the most profitable at the outset. In 'ex- 

 tensive farming nature is depended upon to do the greater part; 



