20 



BULLETIN 49. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



different groups. There is a marked uniformity as to group totals 

 and proportions for the three years. Variations for feed, labor, and 

 other costs in the first-year group seem to have been balanced by 

 the variations the second year, thus making the two totals more 

 uniform than the totals for either year alone. Milk stands out as 

 the largest single item of feed cost, ranging about 30 per cent for 

 each group, or practically one-third the total feed cost. Milk and 

 concentrates appear only in the first year's feeding period, yet they 

 make up nearly 50 per cent of the total feed cost. In raising the 

 1910 group the tendency seems to have been to increase the roughage 

 and decrease the grain. However, the change does not in this case 

 materially affect the total feed cost per head. 



Table XIII. 



-Comparison of the cost of raising heifers for two years (1908. 

 1909, and 1910 groups). 





1908 group. 



1909 group. 



1910 group. 



Item. 



Actual 

 cost. 



Per cent. 



Actual 

 cost. 



Per cent. 



Actual 

 cost. 



Per cent. 





$4.74 



7.89 



16.60 



• 6.44 



3.73 



12.1 

 20 

 42.1 

 16.3 

 9.5 



$5.28 

 6.33 



16.81 

 6.94 

 5.39 



12.8 



15.6 



41.3 



17 



13.3 



$7.36 

 6.91 



18.40 

 4.45 

 5.19 



17.4 





16.3 





43.6 





10.5 





12.2 









39.40 



100 



40.69 



100 



42.40 



100 







Feed 



39.40 



7.86 



12.91 



65.5 



13 



21.5 



40.69 

 8.00 

 13.37 



65.5 

 12.9 

 21.6 



42.40 



7.56 



14.91 



65.4 





11.6 





23 









60.17 

 8.00 



100 



62.06 

 8.00 



100 



64.87 

 8.00 



100 















52.17 

 6.30 





54.06 

 7.00 





56.87 

 7.83 





















58.47 





61.06 





64.70 















There is a gradual increase in the net cost of production for each 

 successive group, but the proportions of feed, labor, and other costs, 

 as indicated by the percentages (Table XIII), have remained prac- 

 tically constant. 



The value of the manure for the two years practically offsets the 

 expense for labor. On the other hand, the expense for labor and 

 other costs combined would not be offset by two and one-half times 

 the value of the manure. To get an accurate record of all the labor 

 is perhaps the most difficult task for the farmer of all the items that 

 must be recorded to determine the cost of producing a dairy cow. It 

 would seem from the results on the Brigham farm that the- value of 

 manure will offset the cost of labor, making it necessary only to keep 

 a record of feed and the items that make up the group of other costs. 

 The gradual increase of the initial value for the three groups is due 

 to a larger number of pure-bred calves. 



