THE ECONOMIC ASPECT OF MILK PKODUCTION 



575 



By weighing the milk of each cow in the herd and determining 

 the fat content, the poor ones can be located and eliminated. 

 Good cows can be substituted, and then the total product can be 

 raised with no additional expense except that required for labor 

 to handle the product. Fraser quotes an example where in 

 two years the product of a herd was brought from 5800 pounds of 

 milk and 224 pounds of butter-fat per year to 8057 pounds of milk 

 and 307 pounds of fat. 



Selling calves can be made a source of profit to the owner of 

 a good herd. He can keep enough calves to fill up his own herd 

 and sell the others. It is generally believed that heifers raised 

 from good cows and a good sire ultimately yield a better profit 



COW PATHS THAT LEAD FAR APART 



THE SCALE AND TESTER STAND AT THE PARTING OF THE WAYS. THEY PROVE THAT EACH COW GOINO TTP TBS 

 BIGHT-HAND PATH IS WORTH AS MUCH TO THE DAIRYMAN AS 41 COWS ON THE LEFT-HAND PATH. 



Fig. 230. (Fraser, Univ. of Illinois Agri. Exp. Sta., Circular 118.) 



than purchased animals. Good cows are not easily obtained in 

 the market and are expensive. The cost of raising calves is not 

 great. At the Illinois Experiment Station calves were raised on 

 milk that would have been sold for $2.70 in the open market. 

 Calves can be raised for $20 to $40 and bring prices from $50 to 

 $60. By judicious breeding milk producers can realize a good 

 revenue both from the sale of milk and from that of calves. 



To raise a profitable herd it is necessary for the owner to get 

 well acquainted with each individual cow. He must know how 

 much milk and butter she produces and the amount of food she 

 consumes. Systematic bookkeeping, which must include over- 

 head expenses, such as buildings, labor, bedding, etc., does not 

 consume much time, and in the end will contribute to a more 



