MODERN DAIRYING 



Exhaustive studies are being made at many 

 of these stations into the food of the cow, in 

 order that the best possible results may be 

 obtained at the least possible expenditure of 

 money. So, in a model herd under test an 

 account is opened with each cow. She is 

 charged with what is fed her, credited with 

 what she produces. A careful record is kept, 

 showing her milk product per day and the 

 quality of the milk per day, week and month. 

 At the end of the month, the check sheets in 

 which her name, or number, and her product 

 are recorded, tell precisely what she is doing. 

 In one station, check was kept upon a series 

 of ten herds of cattle in different parts of the 

 state. In one herd, the best cow gave 8,230 

 pounds of milk in a year ; her per cent of fat 

 in the milk was 5.03 ; she made 483 pounds of 

 butter. The poorest cow in the same herd 

 gave 1,986 pounds of milk ; her per cent of 

 fat was 4.78, and she made only 111 pounds 

 of butter. By means of this elaborate check- 

 ing the value of a dairy cow can be accurately 

 told — her pedigree and her breed are impor- 

 tant, but are less important than her milk- 

 and butter-producing powers. 



197 



