A STUDY IN THE COST OP PRODUCING MILK. 



13 



amount of capital so invested per cow at any one time is compara- 

 tively small. Dairy equipment includes such items as separators, 

 coolers, wagons, pails, cans, bottles, and other miscellaneous articles 

 used in connection with the care of milk and the cows. The annual 

 cost for these items includes depreciation, repairs, and interest on the 

 average capital invested. The depreciation is the difference between 

 the inventory value at the beginning of the year, plus the sum of all 

 items purchased, and the inventory value at the end of the year. 

 On these four farms this equipment charge, as shown in Table I, 

 ranges from $1.28 to $3.22 per cow, which is from 1.3 to 2.5 per cent 

 of the total cost of the cow per year. 



USE OF BULL. 



The net cost of keeping a buU is one of the expenses of producing 

 milk. This cost includes feed, labor, interest, and depreciation. 

 The last two items are in proportion to the value of the bull. Where 

 heifers are raised to maintain the herd it has been proved to be poor 

 economy to keep a scrub bull, however low the cost. The increased 

 value at birth of the heifers sired by a bull of high quality will far 

 more than offset the increased charge for use of the better bull. 

 The size of the, herd is also an important factor affecting the cost per 

 cow. The charge for use of bull varies on each of the four farms, 

 according to the number of cows and the value of the bull. This 

 ranges from $1.47 to $3.52 per cow, the average being $2.44. This 

 is from 1.3 to 2.7 per cent of the total cost of keeping a cow. The 

 highest charge is in the smallest herd, and the smallest charge is in 

 the herd where there is the largest number of cows per bull. 



INTEREST. 



There is a certain amount of money invested in the cows of the 

 dairy herd upon which the owner is entitled to receive interest. 

 In these records interest is charged at the rate of 5 per cent on the 

 average value of the cows for the year. This item ranges from 2 to 4.4 

 per cent of the total cost. The high interest charge on the North 

 Carolina farm is due to the fact that several pure-bred Holstein heifers 

 were purchased during the record period. 



DEPRECIATION. 



Some of the factors influencing depreciation charge are udder 

 troubles, failure to breed, abortion, minor accidents, age, and death. 

 Usually the loss from death is small compared with the shrinkage 

 in value of cows sold at meat prices. The formula used in determin- 

 ing depreciation on each of the four herds is: First inventory value 

 plus the value of cows entering by purchase or otherwise, minus 

 the second inventory value plus the receipts from sales of cows, 

 equals the amount of depreciation for any given period. The de- 



