VALUE OF A SMALL PLOT OF GROUND. 9 



paid for purchased kitchen scraps was $2.57 per hog. The value of 

 the home kitchen wastes fed was not included in the feed cost. The 

 feeding period extended over an average of ten months. These 

 data indicate that it is profitable for the mill operative to fatten a 

 pig when all feed does not have to be bought. Some of the families 

 fatten only one hog and buy little feed, depending largely on their 

 kitchen wastes. Other families fatten two or more pigs and rely 

 more on materials bought for feed. 



THE FAMILY COW. 



In most of the cotton-mill villages the operative is encouraged to 

 keep a family cow. Pastures adjoining the village proper are 

 available for the free use of the families having cows. These pas- 

 tures are fully utilized. In some instances the mill company has put 

 up substantial stalls for housing the cows, and in other villages the 

 operatives build cheap, temporary structures for this purpose. 



The cows invariably are bought in the immediate neighborhood 

 from farmers or neighbors. The quality of the cows is good. It is 

 not uncommon for the operative to buy his cow on the basis of actual 

 production at the beginning of the lactation period. The cow is 

 bought as a " two, three, or four gallon " cow. 



The practice in making butter in this regon is to churn the whole 

 milk. The buttermilk, of which there is a quantity nearly equal to 

 the quantity of whole milk produced, is used for drinking purposes. 

 The large families use all the buttermilk produced, and the smaller 

 families sell their surplus to neighbors. It commonly sells at 10 cents 

 a gallon. 



Eecords of the cost of feeding and of the value of buttermilk and 

 butter produced were obtained from 74 cows. The data are given 

 in the following table: 



Record of 74 family cows owned by operatives in cotton-mill villages of the 

 western parts of North Carolina and South Carolina. 







[Value per cow, 



$46.] 









Feed and yield per cow. 



Quantity. 



Value. 



Feed: 



Roughage (pea-vine 



hay, alfalfa hay, 









Pounds. 



1,000 



4,535 



1,700 



140 



170 



$9.88 









33.60 





32.04 





2.20 



Millfeed 



2.77 















Total 





80.49 











gallons.. 







Yield: 



605 

 270 



60.50 













59.40 















Total 





119. 90 







The records are for the year 1915. The cows have the run of free, common pasture all summer, but the 

 pastures are kept closely cropped. 



