m 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



Shorthorns and 22.4 cents from Hol- 

 steins. According to Canadian expe- 

 rience, the breeds of cattle may be 

 arranged as follows with regard to the 

 quality of milk : Angus, Hereford grade, 

 Shorthorn grade, Ayrshires, Hereford 

 and Shorthorn. In the relative profit 

 from milk, the breeds are arranged as 

 follows, according to experimentsi in 

 New York: Holstein, Shorthorn, Ayr- 

 shire, Guernsey, Jersey and Devon. In 

 the relative profit from butter, the 

 breeds stood in the following order: 

 Guernsey, Jersey, Shorthorn, Holstein, 

 Ayrshire and Devon ; while in the rela- 

 tive profits from cheese the breeds 



frequent intervals. When these tests 

 have been applied in various localities, 

 it has been found that almost every 

 dairy herd contains some cows which do 

 not produce enough milk to pay for their 

 keep. This point has been studied in 

 Illinois, by Eraser, who found that in 

 that state there are vast differences m 

 the efficiency and profit derived from 

 different dairy cows. For example, one 

 cow may produce twice as much butter 

 fat in a year as another cow on exactly 

 the same feed basis. A good dairy cow, 

 well cared for, may produce from five 

 to ten times as much as the average 

 cow for the whole country, or about as 



Fier. 291 



-MIXED HERD AT MILKING TIME 



ranked as follows : Shorthorn, Guernsey, 

 Jersey, Holstein, Ayrshire and Devon. 



Hundreds of other experiments of a 

 similar sort have been carried on, with 

 the result that the relative rank of 

 breeds varies greatly, according to the 

 individuality of the cows, the period of 

 lactation, age of the cows, method of 

 handling and feeding and various other 

 factors. It is apparent from these ex- 

 periments that dairy cows should be se- 

 lected not entirely for their breed, but 

 for their ability to produce milk and 

 butter in large quantities and with good 

 profit for the feed consumed. 



Individuality in cows—Attention has 

 frequently been called to the necessity of 

 judging each cow on her merits and in 

 order to do this fairly it is necessary to 

 weign the milk and make fat tests at 



much as three average cows placed in 

 the profitable class. 



On account of the fact that nearly 

 all dairymen who have not tested their 

 herds are keeping a number of cows at 

 an actual loss, it is to be strongly urged 

 that frequent tests be given at least not 

 farther apart than every three months, 

 in order to make sure that each animal 

 is returning a profit for the feed con- 

 sumed. The improvement of the dairy 

 herd may best be accomplished by se- 

 lecting for breeding purposes only those 

 cows which have ancestors noted for 

 their milk production and in using only 

 those bulls which come from heavy 

 yielding families. 



"Weedy flavors in milk — Disagree- 

 able flavors due to weeds which cows oc- 

 casionally eat, particularly in the spring, 



