162 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc, 



THE NEED AND ECONOMIC VALUE OF IMPROVEMENT 

 IN DAIRY STOCK. 



BY GEO. H. ELLIS, WEST NEWTON. 



After I had accepted an invitation to speak before this 

 body upon " The need and economic value of improvement 

 in dairy stoclv," it occurred to me to consult agahi the last 

 report of the secretary of this Board, to refresh my memory 

 as to what had been said upon the subject. I found 

 Ex-Governor Hoard's lecture on "Dairy economics," Dr. 

 Twitchell's " Lesson in economics," and Professor Cooley's 

 "Selection and improvement of the dair}^ herd," — tln-ee 

 admirable papers, covering almost every point which it will 

 be possible for me to touch upon, and better than I can 

 hope to do. 



But, as most of these papers treat the matter in the ab- 

 stract, I decided, at the risk of seeming personal, to use 

 actual figures from our own experience at Wauwinet farm, 

 which have helped us to realize the need and the value of 

 such improvement. 



Our records show at glance the number of pounds of 

 milk given by each cow for the past six or seven years, and 

 we are therefore able to make comparisons, not only be- 

 tween our own herd and other herds, but between the 

 different animals in our own herd. 



What is the average production of the average herd? 

 Authorities pretty generally agree that in this State it is 

 considerably less than 4,000 pounds per cow ; but as this 

 is probably an estimate only, we will consult figures from 

 carefully prepared statistics in Hoard's "Dairyman," ob- 

 tained in some of the best dairy sections in New York 

 State. 



