87 



What of the costs other than feed? I regret to say that my records 

 of this study in Pennsylvania have not been completed. We are making 

 a careful study of this subject from the standpoint of various practices 

 and will within a few months have definite figures for these costs under 

 Pennsylvania conditions. It will, however, be interesting to discuss the 

 costs as found in some other states. Do they compare with our condi- 

 tions? It will be seen by the following table that the cost of keeping a 

 cow a year varies from $65 to $74.70, with an average of $70.77. This 

 figured in terms of cost, other than feed, is as shown in Table IV. 



It is obvious from Table IV that it is even more important that our 

 herds contain good producers in order to keep down the cost of producing 

 milk. According to the above figures the feed cost per quart of milk is 

 two cents for cows producing 6,000 pounds per year. 



Let us now return to some of the main items of cost. 



The labor item is a large one and one that is difficult to reckon under 

 various conditions of farming. It must be kept in mind that the labor 

 cost is greater on a farm where the man devotes all his time to the herd 

 than where the herd is simply depended upon to furnish part of the income 

 and other cash crops are sold. In the latter system the dairyman often 

 makes a better division of labor. During a large part of the year a hired 

 man may be used in milking cows without an additional expense, while 

 at other seasons of the year the boys on the farm would be home from 

 school and could contribute their share of work. I am not in favor of child 

 labor, as it is generally considered, but I do beUeve that the physical and 

 mental development for boys working on the farm imder wholesome 

 conditions is desirable. It is good training for the boys and at the same 

 time helps to decrease the cost of labor, but when you consider farms 

 where the practice is to employ a man for each ten to fifteen cows to devote 

 all his time to them, there the cost per cow for the year reaches a large sum. 

 At the present cost of labor, $30 per year per cow is a reasonable figure. 



The items of housing and depreciation, although they vary consider- 

 ably, are not small. As was suggested above, many herds are over-capi- 

 talized. The milking periods of cows are also often shorter than some 

 suppose. If six years is considered as the milking life of a cow, $100 animals 

 would depreciate $10 per year, figuring that she would be worth $40 for 

 beef. If less expensive cows are kept, of course the depreciation would 

 be proportionately more. Some cows, however, will milk for ten or twelve 

 years, while others fail to breed regularly and others have udder troubles 

 and only have a short period of usefulness. 



The cost of bedding as found in other states is about as we find in 

 Pennsylvania. Where cows are kept in the stable the greater part of the 

 year, I know of no system of bedding that costs less than $4 to $5 per year 

 per cow. 



Let us discuss briefly the returns other than milk. The largest of 

 these is the manure. A cow will produce about twelve tons per year, and 



