296 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



bought tor experimental purposes out of a herd of one hundred. 

 Reduced to the same feed basis, and taking the yield of Queen as 

 100, that of No. 3 would be represented by 121, of Rose by 304, and 

 of No. i by 312. This is a rate of more than three to one against the 

 poor cow, or over two and one-half to one between good cows on the same 

 feed basis. 



These are not isolated and peculiar cases. Professor Fraser, of 

 the tJniversity of Illinois, tested 554 cows in 36 commercial dairy 

 herds of the state for a full period of twelve months each. He found 

 that the best 25 per cent of the whole number tested were able to 

 produce an average of 301 pounds of butter fat per year, while the 

 25 per cent of lowest efficiency were able to produce an average of 

 but 133.5 pounds a range of considerably more than two to one. 

 The practical significance of this difference is pointed out by Professor 

 Fraser as follows: If it costs thirty dollars a year to feed the poorer 

 cows and thirty-eight dollars a year to feed the better ones, then at 

 present prices a herd of twenty-five of the latter will produce as much 

 net profit as would a thousand of the former. A little calculation will 

 show the immense saving in labor in keeping the smaller herd, and, 

 what is equally significant, the relatively smaller investment in 

 animals, feed, and barns, and the smaller volume of business generally. 



91. PROTECTING THE FARMER AGAINST INFERIOR CAPITAL- 

 GOODS 1 



The People of the State of Michigan enact: 



SECTION i. The term "commercial fertilizer" shall be held to 

 include any and every substance, limestone or lime rock, imported, 

 manufactured, prepared, or sold for fertilizing or manurial purposes, 

 the retail price of which is ten dollars or more a ton. Every lot or 

 parcel of commercial fertilizer sold, offered, or exposed for sale, or dis- 

 tributed within this state shall have on each bag or sack, in a conspicu- 

 ous place on the outside, a legible and plainly printed statement in 

 the English language clearly and truly certifying: 



a) The net weight of the contents of the package, lot, or parcel; 



b) The name, brand, or trade-mark; 



c) The name and principal address of the manufacturer or person 

 responsible for placing the commodity on the market; 



1 Public Acts of Michigan: Acts 135 and 227 of session of 1915; 202 and 254 

 of the session of 1913. 



