39 



quickly as the cow which earns no profit is worth twenty-five dol- 

 lars. This is, however, a very conservative statement. If we 

 apply our basis of valuation to some of the better and rarer cows, 

 we shall be more strongly impressed with the desirability of keep- 

 ing that kind of stock. While the average cow produces only 

 1,400 quarts of milk a year, or 130 lbs. of butter, herds are occa- 

 sionally met with in which the annual product is 8,000 quarts of 

 milk, or 300 lbs. of butter. The cost of feeding in such herds is 

 somewhat more, and very accurate accounts place it at about $50 

 per cow. Three thousand quarts of milk at 2^ cents is worth 

 $67.50, making a profit of $17.50. Addiug two and one-half times 

 this profit to the beef value we shall get $68.75 as the dairy value 

 of such cows. 



The writer has found even better herds than this, herds that 

 would average 4000 qts. of milk in which the best individual gave 

 5000 qts. or more. A 5000 qt. cow yields a product worth 

 $112.50. If her keeping costs $75 the profit amounts to $37.50, 

 and on the foregoing basis her value is $118.75. There is no 

 doubt but that these high values for the best cows are real values. 

 The profits received easily justify the payment of such sums for 

 such cows. More than that if such cows continue their production 

 for more than three years, there is a very handsome surplus made 

 which is utterly impossible with ordinary animals. 



Know wJiat your cows are doing. — The difficulty of selecting 

 and maintaining a herd of the best dairy cows lies in the farmers' 

 imperfect knowledge of what each cow is doing. In a general 

 way farmers think they know which is their best cow, or which is 

 their poorest, and they have perhaps a fairly accurate idea of the 

 relative excellence of individuals in the herd. 



Very rarely, however, is a dairyman well informed on the profit 

 and loss phase of his business. I would strongly urge the record- 

 ing of each cow's product by weighing daily, or at regular intervals, 

 the milk, supplementing this information by occasional Babcock 

 tests, and from this data computing the annual product both in 

 pounds of milk and in pounds of fat. Many surprises would come 

 to the dairyman if such records were kept. The cow that started 

 in so big and then'went dry four months could be justly compared 

 with the one that maintained a moderate flow throughout the season. 

 It might often be found that neither the biggest milker nor the 

 richest cow gave the largest yield of fat in a year. Some fav- 

 orites might be found lacking, while some plain, common, every- 

 day cows might prove pillars of their owners' credit. Accurate 

 records of product and cost for each cow are valuable and profitable 

 in many ways. 



