SELECTION OF THE INDIVIDUAL COW 121 



It will be noted that the first lot were kept at an excellent 

 profit, the average return for butter fat in excess of the cost 

 of feed was $ 28.89 per animal and cost of fat per pound 9.8 

 cents. The second group were kept at an expense of only 

 $ 4.09 less than the first group, while the value of their prod- 

 uct on the average was $22.54 less. Each cow in this group 

 produced only $6.35 worth of butter fat in excess of the 

 cost of feed. The third group of five cows were kept at an 

 expense of $5.17 each less than those in the first group. 

 They produced such a small amount of fat that it lacked 

 $2.82 of being equal to the value of the feed consumed. In 

 this case, one third of the herd were entirely unprofitable. 

 It is very evident that a larger net profit would have been 

 made had the third lot been culled from the herd in the 

 beginning. In addition to a loss of $2.82 each on the feed, 

 there is to be considered the labor of caring for this third 

 lot, the interest on the money invested, and the room 

 occupied in the barn. 



Table 3 gives the summary of twelve months' production 

 for 719 cows owned in the Southern States, based upon records 

 made by representatives of the Dairy Division, United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 1 These data show the same wide 

 variation in the cost of production by individual cows as 

 found in the investigations previously noted. In this case 

 the best cow produced butter at a cost of 13.4 cents per pound 

 as compared with 37.1 for the least profitable. The best cow 

 consumed feed worth $3.00 for each $1.00 expended for the 

 poorest but at the same time she gave a return of $8.30 for 

 each $ 1.00 by the inferior animal. 



1 Twenty-fifth Annual Report Bureau of Animal Industry, U. S. Dept. 

 Agriculture, p. 67. 



