DAIRYING. 25 



67. A good daily grain in live weight of a steer is two or three 

 pounds, and this is nearly half water, while a cow giving 50 poiinds 

 of milk per day is manufacturing six pounds of solid food for man, 

 which is more digestible than even 12 pounds, gain in live weight 

 per day in the steer. 



68. The milk of the Holstein cow (27,432 pounds), would sup- 

 ply 94 people with milk for one year, provided the estimate of 290 

 pounds of milk per capita is a correct one. 



69. It is claimed that the dairy cow produces human food more 

 cheaply than any other animal, and to equal the production of a cow 

 giving 50 pounds of milk per day, a steer would have to allow 10 

 pounds of steak to be cut from his carcass every day. 



c. Choice of a Dairy Breed. 



70. There is no best dairy breed of cows. This is the conclusion 

 of many broad-minded dairymen. There are four so-called dairy 

 breeds of cows which arranged alphabetically may be named Ayr- 

 shire, Guernsey, Holstein and Jersey. In addition to these there are 

 many cows producing large quantities of milk in the following 

 breeds: Brown Swiss, Short Horn, Dutch Belted, Devon and Red 

 Polled. The selection of a breed by each dairyman is about the 

 same sort of task as choosing a cream separator or a sewing machine. 



71. There are good cows and poor cows in all breeds as well as 

 excellent ma'chines in all makes. Each breed of dairy cows possesses 

 certain characteristics which are more or less well known, but it is 

 hard to prove that any one breed contains a higher percentage of 

 economical milk producers than another. 



72. Two cows of the same breed, fed, cared for, and milked in 

 the same stable may vary as much in milk production as two cows 

 of different breeds. The individuality of the animal is of as much 

 importance as her breed. 



73. The selection of a breed should be based on a person's likes 

 and dislikes, and the disposition to be made of the milk. In sec- 

 tions of the country which supply cities with milk there are often 

 found large numbers of cows of the breeds which have the char- 

 acteristic of producing large quantities of milk, and a heavy flow is 

 nearly always accompanied by a lower per cent, of fat in the milk 

 than when the amount of milk produced per cow is smaller. 



