12 BULLETIN 603, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



ANNUAL CHANGES IN COWS. 



Table VII. — Sales, additions, and casualties affecting herds. 





Average of herds 

 on 84 Wisconsin 

 farms (25 cows 

 per farm). 



Average of herds on 

 59 Illinois farms 

 (45 cows per 

 farm). 





Number. 



Per cent 

 of herd. 



Number. 



Per cent 

 of herd. 



Added to herd: 



5.4 



.7 



21.5 

 2.8 



3.4 



9.6 



8.0 





22.2 







Total 



0.1 



24.3 



13.0 



30.2 



Removed from herd: 



.3 

 4.4 



1.2 



17.7 



1L2 



1.6 





26.0 



Total 



4.7 



18.9 



11.9 



27.6 



Excess of additions over removals, or herd increase 



1.4 



5.4 



1.1 



2.6 



From Table VII it is seen that a greater percentage of the herds 

 were heifers that came fresh during the year on the farms of the 

 Wisconsin group than on those of the Illinois group, and that a much 

 larger percentage of the herd was bought and sold on the farms of 

 the latter than on those of the former State. Many of the cows sold 

 from the group of Wisconsin farms were good dairy cows, while 

 those sold from the Illinois group of farms were mostly unprofitable 

 milk producers. 



The yearly percentage of deaths of dairy cows on 453 farms in 

 Lenawee County, Mich., as determined by a farm management survey, 

 was 1.7, and on 613 farms in Chester County, Pa., 1.3. These figures 

 do not differ much from those for Wisconsin and Illinois groups 

 under consideration. The proportion of cows discarded per year on 

 the farms investigated in Lenawee County, Mich., was 21.6 per cent, 

 and in Chester County, Pa., 23 per cent. These figures are greater 

 than those for the Wisconsin group and less than those for the 

 Illinois group. From the foregoing figures it is seen that the length 

 of time the average cow remains in these herds is 5.3 years for the 

 Wisconsin group, 4.6 years for the Michigan group, 4.3 years for 

 the Pennsylvania group, and 3.6 years for the Illinois group. 



RELATION OF FARM PRACTICES TO PROFITS. 



INFLUENCE OF KIND OF DAIRY PRODUCTS SOLD ON PROFITS. 



The source of income on the farms in both groups, as previously 

 shown in Table IV, is mainly dairy products. Table VIII shows the 

 profits of landlord and of tenant in relation to the kind of dairy 

 products sold. 



