192 Elementary Principles of Agriculture 



breeding and selecting, to secure a breed that will give 

 a larger or more valuable return in meat, butter, eggs, 

 wool, etc., for each pound of feed supplied? 



264. Many Animals Are Unsuited for the purpose 

 for which they are kept. The Illinois Agricultural 

 Experiment Station made individual records for a full 

 year of the butter produced by 554 cows in Illinois 

 dairies. The average for the 139 poorest was 133.5 

 pounds of butter-fat and for the 139 best, 301 pounds, 

 or an average difference of 167.5 pounds butter-fat per 

 year. At 25 cents per pound this is $41.87 per cow. 



264a. Figure the gross and net returns per year to the dairy- 

 man for labor and interest on the investment for each of the above 

 groups of cows. Allow $30 per year for the cost of feed for each 

 cow, and 25 cents per pound for butter-fat. The cows were valued 

 at $50 each. Were they all worth this much? 



265. Records of Individual Performance should be 

 made of cows, hens, etc., to determine the cost of keep- 

 ing and the returns of the farmer. By this means the 

 profitable animals may be recognized, as also the unprofi- 

 table ones. The latter should be discarded. The farmer 

 may, by attention to these matters, learn that some 

 animals are being fed at a loss. (Study Fig. 124.) 



265a. Milk and Butter Records. Secure records of the amount 

 of milk, and amount of butter, from cows in the neighborhood for 

 a single week. Calculate the value of the product at current prices. 

 Count the amount and cost of the feed consumed. Determine the 

 returns for labor, etc. (See Fig. 124 and 1352.) 



265b. Growth of Pigs. Weigh a weaned pig once a week for 

 four weeks, and calculate the daily gain in weight. Allow for cost 

 of feed and calculate the cost per pound gain. Market prices may 

 be secured from the daily papers. 



265c. Record of Loretta D. (see Fig. 131), the champion "best 

 cow of any breed" for economical butter-production in the dairy 

 test at the St. Louis Exposition in a 120-day test was, average daily 



