VARIATION IN TESTS OF MILK. 165 



(so as to spoil the progression) or else were mixed too badly to show any 

 attempt at a progression. 



As most of the drops for a month or two came in the months which 

 were excessively hot and the cows known to be very uncomfortable from 

 heat, it is reasonable to attribute most of these drops to this cause. 



Considering that, with a few exceptions, all the cows in the test had 

 calved within two months of the opening, which would bring them six to 

 eight months in lactation at the close, a natural conclusion from the data 

 here given would be that: with cows calving in spring and stabled through 

 summer, the per cent, of fat increases as the period of lactation advances. 



RELATION OF TEST TO PROFITABLE BUTTER PRODUCTION. 



One of the most valuable things to be learned from this test is the very 

 wide difference in the performance of individuals of the same breed. If five 

 individuals of each of these breeds, gotten together in most cases after con- 

 siderable search and pretty careful selection among the available animals 

 by men supposed to be good judges, show such a great range in earning 

 capacity as we find here, what must be the case in the herds of even our 

 most intelligent farmers who have been too busy or too indifferent to apply 

 the test and scales to the individuals of their herds. 



The following tabulation gives the best and poorest cow, from the 

 standpoint of profit on butterfat, in each breed, with the number of position, 

 average fat test, cost of feed, and net profit: 



Cost 



Breed. Cow. No. Test. feed. Profit. 



Guernsey Mary Marshall 1 5.36 $29.16 $59.40 



Medora Fern '. . . 43 4.36 24.36 29.36 



Jersey Primrose 4 5.64 26.81 50.25 



Rexina 29 3.98 25.48 38.52 



Ayrshire Betsy 1st 8 3 . 59 28 . 57 46 . 07 



Lady Flora 28 3.4 27.68 36.70 



Holstein. Beauty 6 3.42 32.65 49.35 



Meg.,.,.,., 33 3.25 34.11 36.60 



Red Polled Mayflower 2 4.45 28.69 52.10 



Tryste 40 3.68 27.15 31.59 



Brown Swiss Belle T 19 4.09 28.38 41.23 



Nicola 42 3 . 25 29 . 18 30 . 35 



French-Canadian Denise 21 4 . 03 23 . 52 40 . 64 



LaBouchette 47 3.67 18.65 22.94 



Shorthorn Miss Molly 15 3.71 32.36 43.01 



Daisy D 44 3.43 32.38 28.80 



Polled Jersey Queen 16 5.63 23.60 42.89 



Phyllis 37 4.38 23.83 33.20 



(Justina left out) Stripper. 



Dutch BeKfcd ... Belle of W 31 4.15 26.93 38.02 



Alberta 50 3.09 24.11 11.49 



It is interesting to notice that in every instance the inost profitable cow 

 tested high (for her breed) and the least profitable one low. Is not this 

 significant ? In several breeds the richness of milk in fat for the five cows 



