FACTORS OF SUCCESS IN FARMING 



609 



TABLE 19. RELATION OF RECEIPTS PER COW FROM MILK AND 



ITS PRODUCTS TO PROFITS ON 585 FARMS WITH SIX OR MORE 



COWS, JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK 



to raise the receipts per cow are worthy of the most serious atten- 

 tion. There were 223 farmers in Jefferson County who sold less 

 than $51 worth of milk and its products per cow. If these 

 farmers cannot find a way to get better returns, it would pay 

 them to sell their cows and either keep some other kind of live- 

 stock or else not keep any. 1 



The size of the farms is practically the same in each group of 

 receipts per cow. The rate of work of men and horses is also 

 practically the same. The men who get the best returns per cow 

 are not reducing the number of cows per man. The crop yields 

 are a little better on the farms getting the highest returns per 

 cow. This would help to raise the labor income. The percentage 

 of receipts from crops is lowest on the farms that secured the 

 best returns per cow. As we shall see later, this tends to reduce 

 the profits. This will probably offset the effect of better crops, 

 so that the higher labor incomes are probably the direct result of 

 the returns per cow. 



Better cows and better feeding are the two chief differences 

 that result in better returns per cow. Weighing the milk from 

 each cow, cow-testing associations, and methods of feeding are 

 worthy of much more attention in every county studied. Bulletins 

 and advice on these subjects are readily available. 



The number of calves raised is not strikingly different in the 

 different groups. Those with the poorest returns are raising a 

 little larger proportion of their calves. 



1 Cornell University Agr. Exp. Station, Bulletin 295, p. 4S4. 



