No. 4.] ECONOMICAL MILK PRODUCTION. 93 



It should be kept in mind that the production of milk on the 

 farms in the Mississippi valley is largely a side line to other 

 lines of farming. This is especially true of the cream, which 

 supplies the numerous butter factories which make Minnesota 

 and Iowa the center of the butter producing industry. This 

 cream comes from farms where the owners are, as a rule, pro- 

 ducing several articles for market, among which cream is of 

 more or less importance. On these farms the average number 

 of cows milked is about ten. It is almost impossible to esti- 

 mate correctly the actual cost of keeping cows under these 

 conditions. It is difficult even to estimate the cost of the feed. 

 A considerable portion of their ration consists of roughage in 

 the way of grass, corn silage, and hay, which could not be 

 marketed to advantage, if at all, and the labor of caring for 

 the animals is largely done by members of the family. Under 

 these conditions it is possible to keep a limited number of 

 animals on a farm with very little additional expense. This 

 accounts for the fact that a State like Missouri keeps 750,000 

 cows, and the farmers consider they are making money in spite 

 of the fact that the average production is only about 4,000 

 pounds of milk and 160 pounds of butter fat. This is the 

 typical condition in the corn-belt States. 



If an attempt were made to keep the same cows under con- 

 ditions where the feed was purchased at market price and the 

 labor was paid at current rates, these average animals would 

 show not a profit but -a loss. At the same time under the 

 conditions existing, they are undoubtedly kept at some profit. 

 The men who produce market milk in my State average a little 

 high in total production per cow, securing on the average be- 

 tween 5,000 and 5,550 pounds of milk. 



The following figures give the actual feed consumed and its 

 cost for a year for three Missouri Holstein cows averaging 8,426 

 pounds of milk, and for three of the same breed averaging 5,709 

 pounds: — 



