DAIRYING 



195 



dairymen. It costs no more to raise a cow that yields 

 fat sufficient to make 300 pounds of butter than it does to 

 raise one producing but 200 pounds. Cows that are not 

 profitable are called " boarders." The worst of it is that 

 they never pay for their board. 



It is well to choose a breed that will produce the desired 

 quantity and quality of milk, but that will not be enough. 

 Even in the best dairy breeds, there are some boarders eat- 

 ing up the farmer's profits. These should be got rid of 

 as soon as discovered. 



The Babcock Test The only certain way to find out 

 which cows in a herd are profitable and which are not, is 

 to make frequent tests. 

 The milk should be 

 weighed, and the amount 

 of butter fat determined 

 by the use of the " Bab- 

 cock Test." This test 

 was discovered, and the 

 machine for making the 

 test invented, by Dr. 

 S. M. Babcock, of Mad- 

 ison, Wisconsin. The 

 use of this simple test 

 has been the means of FlG " +-- Babcock milk tester 

 improving dairymen's herds and methods everywhere. 

 Till this discovery was made, it was difficult to tell where 

 profits or losses were made. Now we have a sure and 

 simple test that every farmer may use. 



Full directions for operating the Babcock Test are given 

 in the next chapter. 



