DAIRY CATTLE 



471 



capacity of cows. Thus, one herd com- 

 pared directly with those just mentioned 

 from Missouri, produced on an average 

 $74.40 worth of butter annually. The 

 -Missouri state department of agricul- 

 ture has estimated from an elaborate 

 series of statistics that the average in- 

 come from each cow, when the milk is 

 sold in a city, is $51.25. 



In order to make a satisfactory profit 

 from dairy cows it is necessary that 

 the income should be somewhat more 

 than $50 a year, for the average cost of 

 keeping a cow ranges from $30 to $38 

 a year in different parts of the country. 



Protecting cows from flies — While 



too close confinement in the hot weather 

 of summer, and for that reason manv 

 remedies have been tried for the purpose 

 of driving away the flies by disagreeable 

 odors or actually killing them with con- 

 tact poisons. In Kansas, Otis tested a 

 number of fly mixtures, but obtained the 

 best results from one containing l 1 /-} 

 pounds of resin, two cakes common soap, 

 i/2 pound of fish oil and enough water to 

 make 3 gallons. This may be ap- 

 plied with a brush, or, if sprayed on 

 the cattle, % pint of kerosene may be 

 added. The mixture costs 7 or 8 cents 

 per gallon and is recommended for use 

 on either cows or calves. Half a pint of 



Fig. 300 — COW STALLS IN A MODEL DAIRY 



some difference of opinion prevails re- 

 garding the influence of worry by flies 

 in lowering the milk yield, there can 

 be little doubt as to the importance of 

 using all convenient and inexpensive 

 means for preventing the attacks of flies 

 as far as possible. In most parts of the 

 great dairy regions of the United States, 

 the hornfly is the most serious pest of 

 this sort with which we have to deal. 

 The hornfly constitutes a serious source 

 of worry, and in some localities it has 

 been found necessary to keep the cows 

 indoors, with the windows screened, dur- 

 ing the heat of the day, in order to 

 prevent the lowering of the milk yield. 

 This method, however, keeps the cow 

 away from pasture too much, or involves 



the mixture is enough for, one applica- 

 tion to each cow. If the hornfly nui- 

 sance is exceedingly bad, it may be 

 necessary to spray the cows twice a 

 week at first, but later the applications 

 may be further apart. 



In Connecticut, Beach and Clark 

 tested a number of remedies for keep- 

 ing flies away from cows, most of them 

 being proprietary remedies. It was 

 found possible to protect the cows to a 

 considerable extent by the use of pro- 

 prietary ointments and other remedies 

 referred to as fly removers, but they 

 are rather expensive and their use ap- 

 peared to have little or no effect on the 

 amount of milk or butter yielded by the 

 cows. Beach and Clark, therefore, come 



