May, 1933] Efficiency Studies in Dairy Farming 17 



the good cows and 41.5 per cent of the poor were in the grouj) of 12 

 farms wdth low milk production per cow. In the individual herds the 

 range of good, fair and poor cows was great. One herd was classified 

 as having 97 per cent good, and another 97 per cent poor cows. 



On several farms the herd history indicates real effort and deter- 

 mination over a long period of years to improve the capacity and 

 quality of the cows. One operator had used pure bred herd sires for 

 forty years, and others had used registered sires for 13, 15, 18 and 25 

 years. Three farms had in recent years purchased outstanding cows 

 or bulls in order to build up herds. In the higher producing group, 

 there was usually more evidence of past effort to improve capacity of 

 cows, and in this group at present is the greatest interest and determi- 

 nation to increase production through better stock. Unfortunately, 

 about one-third of the operators have made little or no progress in 

 building up good herds. 



Roughage 



The effect of the quality of roughage on milk production was hidden 

 on most farms by the variations in grain feeding. The cows in the 

 high producing groups consumed annually an average of 1,628 pounds 

 of high protein hay and 1,721 pounds of grain per cow in addition to 

 other roughage such as common hay or silage; the medium group, 

 1,463 pounds of high protein hay and 1,137 pounds of grain; and the 

 low group, 1,832 pounds of high protein hay and 728 pounds of grain. 

 The amount of protein available for each cow through the feeding of 

 this grain and roughage is estimated at 585, 433 and 381 pounds, re- 

 spectively, for the high, medium and low producing groups. The first 

 group more than made up for the lack of protein in the hay by feed- 

 ing more grain than the other groups. Some operators in the first 

 group probably fed more protein than necessary, but in the low pro- 

 ducing group protein consumption was insufficient. 



There w^ere usually wide differences in quality of hay as harvested 

 on individual farms, ranging from very good well-cured clover or al- 

 falfa to partly damaged coarse native hay. On several farms these 

 various qualities of hay were mowed away without reference to intelli- 

 gent feeding. Consequently, in the winter the cows were subjected to 

 sudden changes in quality of roughage. This affected production on 

 some farms. 



It is recommended that hay be mowed away so that the operator 

 can mix the hay as he feeds it. The task of mixing in the winter, if 

 the mowing away of different qualities of hay is well planned, will not 

 materially affect total time on chores, and will help insure against 

 loss of production. 



Pastures 



As in the case of roughage, differences in pastures were usually off- 

 set by variations in grain and succulent feeds used during pasture sea- 

 son. On four farms production during the summer was maintained by 

 giving the milking cows ensilage because the pastures did not furnish 

 enough feed. On one farm, milk production was increased by pastur- 

 ing available fertilized tillage fields. On nine fanns lack of pasturage 



