110 THE COW 



grow throughout life and the older they are, the 

 longer and more protruding they become. Cows 

 have front teeth on the lower jaw only and these 

 frequently drop out and in other eases are worn 

 off to the very roots. It is perhaps not far wrong 

 to -say that a cow is no older than her teeth. In 

 purchasing a cow of somewhat doubtful age, an 

 examination of the mouth is the first necessity. 



The depletion of the herd by death and accidents 

 and the necessary eliminations for other reasons 

 constitutes an "overhead" charge which is some- 

 times forgotten but which is really a most serious 

 economic factor. The ultimate end of the cows 

 that prove to be failures as producers or that meet 

 with some accident or disability is slaughter. 

 Dairy-cow beef is so low in price that the value of 

 a worn-out or disabled animal is commonly only 

 from one-third to one-half of her price if sound. 

 Considering all this, it seems certain that in cal- 

 culating the balance sheet of a dairy business, it 

 will be necessary under the best management to 

 "charge off" each year at least 10 per cent exclusive 

 of the salvage value of the animals disposed of, a 

 depreciation charge much higher than obtains in 

 some other types of agriculture. If this estimate 

 is wide of the mark, it is at fault in being too low 

 rather than too high. 



Broadly speaking, there are two methods of 

 maintaining the numbers of the herd One is 

 merely to purchase animals to replace the fallen 



