8 BULLETIN 1069, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



figures by districts and by years in the relation of production to in- 

 come over cost of feed shows that any change for one group of cows 

 was always accompanied by a similar change for each of the other 

 groups. For that reason the curve shown in figure 3 may be con- 

 sidered as fairly representative for different years and for all sec- 

 tions of the country. It does not follow, however, that the income 

 over cost of feed will always be $26 for cows that produce 150 

 pounds of butterfat and $106 for cows that produce 400 pounds of 

 butterfat. The figures are relative, not absolute. The records were 

 tabulated in many ways and always with the result that the groups 

 of high-producing cows had a greatly increased average income 

 over cost of feed as compared with the groups of low-producing 

 cows. The figures showing the relation of butterfat to income gave 

 much the same curve regardless of breed, age, weight, date of fresh- 

 ening, or geographical location. 



Cow-testing-association records do not give labor costs and miscel- 

 laneous expenses, but they do show which cows are paying for their 

 feed and which are not. In one herd, records of which were tabu- 

 lated, the poorest cow produced in one year only enough income 

 from butterfat over cost of feed to buy a 2-cent postage stamp. To 

 pay labor costs and miscellaneous expenses the owner had the 

 manure, skim milk, and the calf. With better cows and more intel- 

 ligent feeding he would have had much more. 



TWO HERDS COMPARED. 



In the Cheshire (X. H.) cow-testing association for the testing 

 year 1917-18 the herd that produced the most milk per cow was 

 highest in average production of butterfat, highest in cost of feed 

 per cow, and averaged next to the highest in income over cost of 

 feed. For the same year in the same association the herd that pro- 

 duced the least milk per cow was lowest in average production of 

 butterfat, lowest in average gross income, lacked 4 cents of being 

 lowest in cost of feed per cow, and averaged lowest in income over 

 cost of feed. The herd of greatest production per cow had an 

 average income of $212 over cost of feed, while the other herd had 

 an average income of $27 over cost of feed. It would require 78 

 cows like those in the inferior herd to produce as much income over 

 cost of feed as 10 cows like those in the other. 



BUTTERFAT AND COST OF FEED. 



The figures in Table 8 are from the same tabulation as those given 

 in Table 2, and they show the relation between butterfat production 

 and cost of feed per cow. 



