35 



Ing before they rise late in the morning, again leaving the strippings. 

 Forty pounds of milk with 8 per cent fat at 30 cents per pound would 

 be worth about $1, which will pay for six hours' labor. Two minutes 

 on each cow, or less than one hour, would have saved this amount; 

 carried through the year it would reduce the profits of the herd by 

 $350. 



D. — The Chicago milk inspectors, in their zeal to perform their 

 duty to the city, not only tested the milk, but, to prevent any jobbery, 

 sent their own men to milk the cows and take the samples. As a 

 result nearly half the cows fell below the city standard, and the fact 

 was widely advertised by its jDress. The owners of these cows were not 

 slow to announce later that after the inspector's milkers had left they 

 milked out from 1 to 5 pounds from each cow. From the inexperience 

 of the milkers, or their unfamiliarity with the cows, the latter had 

 "held up" their milk. The milk they didn't get tested 6 to 8 per cent 

 fat. The net result was to leave the public in ignorance of the real 

 truth concerning the quality of these cows. 



Anything which causes the cow to withhold the last milk reduces the 

 fat per cent. Flies, excitement, strange milkers, roughness, scamp 

 work, etc., which prevent the withdrawal of the whole secretion, re- 

 duce the amount, much more the quality, and therefore the profits of 

 dairying. The most important part of milking is to get it all. No 

 doubt the profits in many dairies are lessened hundreds of dollars a 

 year through failure to do this. 



Know the Cows. — A breeder and cream producer found that 10 

 two-year-old heifers during their first year in milk had yielded a 

 profit over the cost of food consumed of $118. He would have been 

 well satisfied had not the individual records of these heifers been 

 kept. A computation of the daily weighings of milk and monthly 

 Babcock tests revealed the fact that 4 of these 10 heifers had been kept 

 at a loss of $29. This breeder was therefore chagrined to think that 

 two-fifths of his labor had been spent for nothing, for had he disposed 

 of the 4 and done only three-fifths th^e work his profit would have been 

 $157 on the 6. This incident illustrates the point that an account with 

 the whole herd is inadequate to the dairyman's needs. To prevent the 

 contingency of keeping one, two or more unprofitable cows he must 

 have information of the product of each member of the herd. I believe 

 that here is the most important factor in the profits of dairying, so far 

 as production is concerned. If dairymen would weed out one-third of 

 their herds by this plan, lightening their labors by that fraction, their 

 aggregate profits from the sale of dairy products would be greater. 

 They would have a surplus of forage to sell; and prices would advance, 

 thus favorably affecting the financial advantages in three ways at 

 once. But how can this be done? 



