DEPRECIATION^ OF THE DAIRY HERD 109 



this is not the most important factor. It has been 

 shown by investigations covering several thousand 

 cows that the actual annual loss by death was only 

 1.2 per cent, and these figures were the same in 

 New York and Minnesota. 



Mechanical injury to the teats and udder, such 

 as having a teat crushed in the stable by the foot 

 of another cow or tearing the udder on a barbed 

 wire fence, occasionally leads to the loss of a teat. 

 Infective garget is a much more serious trouble, 

 nearly always leading to the entire loss of the 

 quarters affected. In either case, the dairy use- 

 fulness of the animal is diminished and results in 

 its disposal for beef. 



Failure to breed or barrenness is very common 

 and of course renders the cow valueless except for 

 slaughter. 



Probably the largest single cause is poor pro- 

 duction, the animal being turned to the butcher 

 because she fails to give milk enough to justify her 

 existence. It may be added that even more cows 

 ought to be eliminated for this same reason. We 

 cannot well over-emphasize the slogan that the 

 path of the unproductive cow ought to lead 

 straight to the butcher's block. 



Finally, there is the question of wearing out 

 through old age. A cow really fails largely because 

 her teeth become poor and she is handicapped in 

 gathering her food at pasture and to a less degree 

 in the stable. The teeth of a horse continue to 



