THREE DAY RECORDS 145 



Daily Records. — Farmers have for years been advised to 

 keep daily records of the quantity of milk produced by their cows 

 and to test sufficiently often to know approximately how much 

 fat is being yielded by each cow. The system entails consider- 

 able attention and some labor, but where given a fair test is found 

 to be a paying investment. The form of the record sheet used 

 for such is similar to the sample shown. This record is designed 

 to accommodate twenty cows for a week but may be extended to 

 include the production of a month if desired. The form here 

 shown is that adopted by the Dairy and the Extension Divisions 

 in the University of Minnesota. The complaint is often made 

 that to weigh the milk twice a day consumes so much time that 

 more is lost than gained in the process. This criticism, how- 

 ever, is made by those who have never tried it. The advantage 

 of sytematically weighing every milking over a period of three 

 days a month is that in addition to determining the production 

 of the cow the added value of having what may be termed a ther- 

 mometer of the business is at hand. Many items, such as 

 scarcity of water in the pasture, short, dry grass, presence of 

 flies, bad hay, cold rains, or poor milkers, have a decided influence 

 upon the profitableness of the dairy enterprise, yet may not be 

 noticed for a week or more unless there be at hand a record of 

 production. Some cow keepers have continued the daily records 

 after becoming convinced that all the cows in the herd are profit- 

 able, purely for the effect of rivalry created among the milkers. 



A sheet summarizing by months the work done by the cows 

 for the year will be found highly advantageous. Sample of the 

 sheet used in Minnesota for this purpose is shown on page 146. 



Three Day Records. — At times the labor involved in daily 

 weighing seems so great that the farmer decides not to commence 

 testing. To such the system of weighing the milk on the middle 

 three days of each month is recommended. The yield for the 

 month is calculated by multiplying by ten the yield for the three 

 test days. This system requires scarcely 10 per cent of the labor 

 involved by the daily weighing system and its accuracy is found 

 to be about 96 per cent. This is more accurate than usual records 

 kept of other farm operations. Where the fat test is made 

 10 



