PRODUCING MARKET MILK IN NORTHWESTERN INDIANA. 19 



The figures in Table 9 indicate that there is no close relation between 

 the monthly cost of milk and the monthly price received for it during 

 the 2 years. There was no regular variation in the monthly cost 

 within any of the seasons except a little lower cost in November, 

 indicating that the cost in the section in which these records were 

 obtained was about the same from month to month during the summer 

 or during the winter season. The price received for the milk, however 

 fluctuated sharply from month to month. 



.The methods by which the amounts and values of the various 

 items considered in these studies were determined will be discussed 

 briefly here under the several heads of feed, labor, and overhead and 

 other costs. 



FACTORS INVOLVED IN THE COST OF PRODUCING MILK. 



FEED. 



EXPLANATION OF' TERMS. 



Concentrates is a term applied to grains and by-products from the 

 milling of grains or seeds, comprising those feeds containing a large 

 amount of nutritive material in a relatively small bulk. 



Dry roughage includes various hays and other coarse feeding stuffs. 



Noncommercial dry roughage is applied to corn stover and corn 

 fodder and any other dry roughage for which price quotations are not 

 given in the trade papers. 



Leguminous roughage includes alfalfa, cowpea, clover, and other 

 legume hays having such a small percentage of other grasses as not 

 materially to affect the protein content. 



Commercial carbohydrate hay includes all commercial hays except 

 those classified as leguminous roughage. 



QUANTITY OF FEED USED. 



The amounts of the different kinds of feed were based on the weights 

 obtained for the total amount which each herd received in one full 

 day. The feed was weighed for each herd on one day of every month, 

 while this study was being made. The weighing of the feed, with 

 the exception of that which three herds received the first year, was 

 done by the cow tester of the Porter County Cow-Testing Association. 

 The field agent who also made the visits to each herd every month, 

 weighed the feed for Herds 114, 115, and 116 during the first year 

 and checked up closely on the tester's weights for all herds each month 

 for both years. 



FEED PRICES. 



The home-grown feeds were figured at market prices on the farm 

 plus any expense connected with them, such as grinding, hauling, 

 and baling. Oats and ear corn were hauled to the mill to be ground. 

 Limited barn space made it necessary for some of the dairymen to 



