SOME RESULTS OF COW TESTING 149 



to go from farm to farm to weigh and test the milk ; weigh old 

 rations fed and compute new. He remains but one day in a place, 

 making the circuit once each month. Whenever a good tester 

 is obtained, experience shows the investment to be a highly 

 profitable one on the farmers' part. Aside from getting the 

 work done more cheaply than the farmer himself could usually 

 do it there is the added advantage that it is done, which is so 

 likely not to be the case for more than a few months, if the work 

 is left entirely to the owner who has so many other matters 

 demanding mental and physical attention. 



The three requisites for improvement in livestock are breed- 

 ing, feeding and selection. The dairy herd is no exception. A 

 constant culling out process is essential to improvement. 



Some Results of Cow Testing. — The nature and the amount 

 of improvement which cooperative testing associations may be 

 the means of effecting are shown in an average of ten herds in 

 one Iowa association during four years, as follows : 



Avg. animal milk Avg. animal butter Avg. animal Avk. animal 



yield per cow fat per cow feed cost per profit per 



Year Lbs. Lbs. cow cow. 



1911 t)483 240 $i6.40 $32.42 



1912 704y 277 52.31 39.20 



1913 8738 285 43.67 52.95 



1914 8(i48 312 48.12 66.02 



One single herd increased Lbs. Lbs. 



1912 5065 207.7 $43.77 $22.12' 



1913 7060 251.9 33.28 53.96 



1914 9679 339.8 46.12 72.22 



1915 10184 369.6 52.28 74.38 



Similar improvements have been brought about in a great 

 many herds and communities. 



The growth and status of the work are well shown by the fol- 

 lowing table compiled by the Dairy Division, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



