January, 1938] DAIRY Herd Replacements 5 



Table 1. Relation of acres of pasture equivalent per cattle unit pastured 

 to carrying capacity of pastures and per cent of cattle units heifers. 



into two groups, purebred and grade, and then subdivided according 

 to whether purchased or raised. Estimated values were attached to 

 each item. Farmers were requested to base all values at the beginning 

 of the year on prices prevailing at the end of the year, thereby elimi- 

 nating any variation due to price fluctuations. A summary of the de- 

 tailed inventories appears in the appendix. Cattle appreciation amount- 

 ed to $153 per farm. Appreciation occurred under average conditions 

 for all groups of farms on which heifers comprised ten per cent or more 

 of the total cattle units. Thirty-eight farms on which heifers comprised 

 less than 10 per cent of the total cattle units showed an average depre- 

 ciation of $55 per farm. The average investment in dairy cattle, and 

 cattle sales tended to increase with a proportionate increase in the num- 

 ber of heifers, whereas purchases tended to decline. 



Of the 200 herds, 116 or 58 per cent were predominantly Holsteins. 

 There were 16 Ayrshire herds, 38 Guernsey, eight Jersey, and four dual- 

 purpose herds. In 18 herds which are classed as mixed there was no 

 predominant breed and three-fifths of the cows were purchased, com- 

 pared with two-fifths or less for the other groups. Rockingham was 

 the only county in which more than one-half of the cows were purchased. 



Additions to Milking Herd. During the year, 373 replacements were 

 purchased, nearly three-fourths of which were grades. The average 

 price paid was $77 per head, $71 for grades and $95 for purebreds. 

 But the number of replacements by purchase amounted to only slightly 

 more than one-third of all the additions, the remainder being by first- 

 calf heifers, practically all of which were born and raised on the respec- 

 tive farms. Approximately three out of every 10 cows inventoried on 

 April 30, 1933, were added during the year, 10.4 per cent of the total 

 by purchase and 19.8 per cent by first-calf heifers. 



Retail dairies added a larger proportion of their herds than did whole- 

 sale dairies, but tended to purchase rather than raise them. On those 

 farms located more than two miles from an improved highway, only 1.4 

 per cent of the herd was added during the year by purchase and 24.6 



