100 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



[Pub. Doc. 



Table 7. — New Hampshire Cow Test Association Records, 203 Cows. 



Number of Cows. 



Production 

 (Pounds). 



Cost Feed. 



Cost 



100 Pounds 



Milk. 



Income 

 above Feed. 



14, ... 



26, ... 



41, ... 



40, ... 



39, ... 



25, ... 



10, ... 

 Average for all, 



Above 10,000 

 9,000-10,000 

 8,000- 9,000 

 7,000- 8,000 

 6,000- 7,000 

 5,000- 6,000 

 4,000- 5.000 

 Under 4,000 



7,094 



S88 59 

 88 25 

 83 46 

 81 18 

 73 59 

 65 91 



56 61 



57 22 



$73 61 



SO 81 

 93 

 98 

 1 10 

 1 13 

 1 19 

 1 23 

 1 86 



SI 04 



$106 82 

 79 18 

 63 86 

 52 11 

 43 65 

 34 56 

 27 20 

 4 25 



$49 48 



It will be noted that cows producing above 10,000 pounds of 

 milk did so at a feed cost of around SO cents per hundred 

 pounds. Those producing 5,000 pounds cost about $1.20 per 

 hundred pounds, while those going under 4,000 pounds showed 

 the exceptionally high cost of $1.86 per hundred. Here we 

 have exactly the same point illustrated. A low-producing cow, 

 especially the cow producing less than 5,000 pounds of milk a 

 year, is the animal that shows very high cost of production, and 

 it is only necessary to have a few animals of this kind in the 

 herd before the chances of running the business at a profit are 

 gone. 



It should be pointed out that in each case the high-producing 

 animal uses more feed. This is inevitable. There is a good 

 deal of loose thinking and talk concerning this point among 

 dairymen, and especially among others who at times attempt 

 to advise them. It is even stated that it costs as much to keep 

 a poor-producing animal as it does a good one. This is true 

 in regard to certain items of expense, such as stabling, labor, 

 insurance, etc., but it is not true and cannot be true with 

 reference to the feed. The animal that is a large producer must 

 have more feed. And the fact that she is a large producer and 

 requires more feed is the reason she is a more economical 

 producer. In order to make it clear where the economy of 

 production comes in with the high-producing cow, I have 

 prepared the following table : — 



