INTEODUCXION xiii 



"There were fifteen herds, or about one herd in eleven, that 

 showed a profit. There were forty-six herds, or about one in four, 

 that produced milk for I2 or less per hundredweight. At the prices 

 of feed, labor, and use of capital figured, the average cow in Dela- 

 ware County failed by $32.14 to pay expenses. To state the results 

 in another way, the average cow paid all costs excepting the value 

 of hay and forage that was raised on the farm. For this hay and 

 forage the cows paid 28 per cent of its farm value. 



"Some farmers keep unprofitable cows for the sake of having 

 manure to use on their land. If the use of this manure is the cheap- 

 est means of building up the land, the system is justified, but it 

 is possible for the manure to cost more than it is worth. With 

 the foregoing valuations for labor, feed, and use of capital, in order 

 to have prevented a loss on the dairy enterprise in 1912 manure 

 would have had to be worth $6.85 per ton in the barn. The crops 

 generally grown in the County — corn, oats, millet, and hay — do 

 not justify pasdng such high prices for manure. . . . 



"The question might be asked, how do these farmers live when 

 they sell hay to cows at a lower figure than its farm value, or when 

 they work for lower wages than the rates indicated, or when they 

 accept a lower rate of interest than 5 per cent. The dairymen of 

 Delaware County are doing one or more of these things." 



Although the author does not agree fully with these con- 

 clusions, they emphasize in a forceful way the importance of 

 a thorough study of the whole subject and especially the need 

 for a uniform basis and a correct and fair method of cost 

 accounting so that the industry may be placed on a sound 

 economic plane. Although as a rule little study is made of 

 costs on the farms of the United States, still- adjustment does 

 take place. As soon as the price of milk becomes a little 

 greater than the cost of production, land and cattle advance 

 in price. The adjustment is not always immediate, but when 

 net returns of the farms or bank accounts show that the in- 

 dustry is profitable in some cases, others extend their farm 

 operations to include dairying. 



In pointing out some of the items of cost that it is thought 

 other writers should not have included, the author is not 

 doing so for the purpose of defending the consumer and some 

 dealers who attempt to keep the price down, but if possible 



