COWS KEPT AT A LOSS 125 



of scales and a ruled sheet whereby the milk weights may 

 be recorded daily. It is well to use spring balance scales 

 that will weigh from one-tenth to thirty pounds. 



The fat test should be made at least once a month, the 

 testing to be done at regular intervals. Samples from 

 both morning and evening milking should be used. For 

 the small herd a four-bottle Babcock tester is of sufficient 

 size and may be secured at small cost from any creamery 

 supply company and includes full directions for conduct- 

 ing the test. The manipulation of the fat test is very 

 simple, but the directions should be carefully followed. 



Guesswork is expensive to the dairyman. No person is 

 able to go into a good sized herd and pick out all the best 

 cows by examination. The highest degree of success 

 cannot be attained unless the dairyman knows accurately 

 the record of each cow. Success in dairying will depend 

 upon the farmer's ability to lower the cost of producing 

 a pound of butter-fat. 



With increased cost of every item which goes into the 

 maintenance of a dairy herd, from wrapping paper to 

 hay, and from the fencing around the farm to the labor 

 required in every operation, has come the absolute 

 necessity of getting every part of the dairy on a paying 

 basis or else facing a deficit either in money, which is 

 likely, or in depreciation of the farm land, or in under- 

 paid labor. All of which is primary and fundamental 

 experience with the eastern cow-man. 



For this fact remains: Well-tilled land will produce 

 crops sufficient to pay a fair return on labor and invest- 

 ment even if sold in the open market. The feeding of 

 the farm crop to a dairy cow, and the production by that 

 cow of milk, and its further handling on the farm into 

 butter and cheese — provided always that the cow is a sat- 

 isfactory dairy animal — is proven to be the most profit- 

 able way of disposing of products of the farm, under 

 existing conditions of demand and cost of transportation, 



