No. 4.] ECOXO:\IieAL MILK PRODUCTION. 99 



expected to make only good interest on its investment after 

 paying labor charges and depreciation. What railroad can 

 show, as this cow did, a clear profit of one-third the cost price 

 in a year? Take the figures as already given of the Holstein 

 cow producing 11,987 pounds of milk at a feed cost of S91. 

 Had this cow been on pasture, it would have reduced her feed 

 bill several dollars, but at the figures given we can add on the 

 $56 estimated by Professor Rasmussen for other expense, and 

 still, had her milk been sold at the local price of SI. 50 a 

 hundredweight, the income would have exceeded the expendi- 

 ture $33.90. 



Whenever figures have been collected regarding the income 

 from herds or from individual cows, the same wide variations 

 in income, as pointed out, have been found. There is one fact, 

 however, that always stands out strikingly, and that is, eco- 

 nomical production is found only with high-producing cows. 

 The figures already given, showing the cost of production by 

 cows of different grades, illustrate the facts in this connection 

 clearly. The three Holstein cows producing 8,426 pounds of 

 milk in a year did so at a cost of 80 cents per hundred, with an 

 average income of $126.39, counting milk at $1.50 per hundred 

 pounds. The three Holstein cows producing 5,709 pounds of 

 milk per year cost only $49.05 for feed, but their income was 

 only $85.63. In other words, for $17 additional feed, when 

 given to one of the better cows, $40.76 worth of additional milk 

 was secured. The other items of cost, such as labor, stabling, 

 etc., would be practically the same for both animals. Figures 

 as given for the three individual animals are still more striking. 

 The cow producing 11,987 pounds of milk did so at a cost of 

 $91.62 for feed. The cow producing 5,573 pounds of milk, or 

 practically one-half as much, required feed to the amount of 

 $61.07. At $1.50 per hundred pounds the difference in the 

 income of these two animals would be $96.31 per year. The 

 difference in the cost of feed was $30. The following figures, 

 taken from the bulletin issued by the New Hampshire Experi- 

 ment Station already mentioned, illustrate the same con- 

 dition: — 



