5 



or unprofitable milk production and, consequently, buttermaking. 

 There is no room in this little treatise to go further into details of 

 the interesting experiments reported by Prof. T. L. Haecker, in 

 Minnesota Experiment Station Bulletin 35, from which the illus- 

 trations have been taken. 



Some tests have also been made in Denmark, in which 

 the cost of production from 200 cows varied from 15.1 cents 

 to 78.5 cents per pound of butter. 



These experiments show that the profitable dairy cow is 

 found not only by selecting a particular breed, but also by paying 

 strict attention to each individual cow. The "average" cow is 

 the curse of dairying. It requires no great intelligence to see that 

 it is better to milk six cows giving a good profit than to milk ten, 



HOUSTON. 



four of which reduce if they do not annihilate the profit of the 

 other six. But this is what is being done on seven or eight farms 

 out of ten. 



If it is important to test the individual cows of the dairy 

 breeds, how much more with the so-called general purpose or 

 dual purpose cows. In my opinion it is possible for a breeder 

 of beef cattle to produce a fair lot of milk "on the side" at a 

 profit, but it is folly to attempt producing steers from dairy cows, 

 though possibly baby beef may be made to pay. Yet some splen- 

 did milkers may be found among so-called dual purpose cows 

 and if they stand the test, why not use them? It must also be 

 remembered that it takes a dairyman to care for a dairy coiv, and 

 the best cow alive may be unprofitable in the hands of an un- 

 skillful, careless man. 



