December, 1931] Dairy Faeming in Grafton County 



91 



Table 80 — Relation of milk production per cow to cost of milk and 



lahor income. 



Average. 



Total or avera^'e 326 



17.0 



5,155 



24.1 162 $3.00 



$3.05 $441 



'1500 



1200 



900 



5 600 

 o 



g300 



to 



< 



•300 



-600. 



480 



400 



U 



320 55 

 o 



o 



» 30 



70 75 



zoa 



Figure 7. 



40 50 60 



Milk Reduction per Cow 



(IN HUMWEOS or POUNDS) 



Relation of production per cow to cost of milk and labor income. 



j Production per Cow and Number of Cows 



The average cost of milk production with a small number of poor- 

 , producing cows was $4.52 per hundredweight ; with a large number of 

 good-producing cows, it was only $2.15, or less than half as much (Ta- 

 ble 81). Large herds and poor production resulted in an average cost 

 of $2.95 per hundredweight, while small herds and good production re- 

 sulted better, with an average cost of $2.64. With every change in this 

 table to a group of more cows per farm or to a group of better produc- 

 tion per cow, the average cost of milk production decreased. That 

 these two factors have a dominant influence on costs in the milk enter- 

 prise can hardly be over-emphasized. For each hour of labor per cow 

 I in the first group, of 43 farms, a man averaged 15.7 pounds of milk in 

 return ; the corresponding response in the last group of 29 farms was 

 59.5 pounds of milk, or nearly four times as much. 



I Average differences in prices received for the milk of 36 cents a 

 hundredweight in the two extreme groups contributed a further ad- 

 vantage. Because of variations in season of production and other dif- 

 ferences, the larger volumes of milk per farm tend to command better 

 prices. 



