ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF FARMS IN PENNSYLVANIA. 



23 



is a rather low production per cow. It was possible to get accurate 

 data of the butter fat sold per cow on 123 of the 159 dairy farms, 

 but for the rest of the dairy farms it was not possible to get this figure 

 accurate enough for these tables, because some of the dairymen sold 

 market milk in Grove City or Harrisville, and others shipped this 

 product for a part of the year to Youngstown, Ohio, and to New 

 Castle, Pa. Some farmers sold market milk locally to miners and 

 others living in the area. 



The average labor income of the 123 farms furnishing butter-fat 

 data was $259, while the average labor income of all the dairy farms 

 was $279. This indicates that the 123 farms are fairly representative. 

 The pounds of butter fat sold per cow and the labor income of the 

 farms selling butter only, of those selling creamery milk, and of those 

 selling both butter and creamery milk is shown in Table XIII. 



Table XIII. — Sales of butter fat per cow and labor income of 123 dairy farms selling 

 products as specified, Grove City, Pa., area. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Number 

 of cows 

 per farm. 



Pounds but- 

 ter fat sold 

 per cow. 



Average 

 labor in- 

 come. 



Farms selling- 

 Butter only 19 



Creamery milk * | 75 



Butter and creamery milk | 29 



129.2 

 150.8 

 125.1 



879 

 325 

 208 



The farmers who sold butter and no other dairy products received 

 an average of 35 cents per pound for their butter-fat product. Those 

 selling butter and creamery milk received 41 cents per pound, and 

 those who sold only to the creamery 43 cents. Those who sold to the 

 creamery received 8 cents per pound more for their butter fat than 

 those who sold butter only, or about one-fourth (24 per cent) more 

 per pound. If the farmers who sold butter only had shipped their 

 product to the creamery and had averaged the same production of 

 butter fat the receipts per cow would have averaged $10.34 higher, 

 and as these farms averaged 6 cows per farm would have received 

 $62 per farm greater income. There were 82 general farms that sold 

 butter only, and their sales of butter fat per cow were 84.5 pounds, 

 which brought them an average of 33 cents per pound. With the 

 same production per cow, other things being equal, they would have 

 received $8.45 more per cow and $40 greater income per year if their 

 milk had been sent to the creamery. 



Most of the farmers of the area keenly realize the advantage of 

 shipping their milk to the creamery, and the number of patrons of 

 the plant is increasing rapidly. They also realize the need of improv- 

 ing the quality of their herds. One cow-testing association and two 

 bull associations have been formed since April 1, 1917. 



