THE DAIRY HERD. I9 



pounds of butter per cow short of what is nec- 

 essary to make the business as a whole profit- 

 able? There is no doubt that the average cost 

 of keeping and caring for the cows of the coun- 

 try will require an average production of 200 

 lbs. of butter to pay for feed, labor and interest 

 on the investment. 



Cost of Keeping a Cow. — ^I believe that the 

 average annual cost of feeding a cow in the 

 United States for a term of years is not less 

 than $35, and where the milk is taken to a 

 creamery the patron will not receive an aver- 

 age above twenty-two cents per pound for the 

 butter, and when the cow produces 168 lbs. we 

 have $36.96 to her credit, or $1.96 above cost 

 of feeding her, which with the skim-milk is our 

 pay for labor, interest, taxes and insurance. It 

 is apparent that there is something wrong with 

 the dairymen when they are content to be do- 

 ing this quality of work. 



If it costs on an average for a term of years 

 $35 per annum to feed a. cow and to this we 

 add $12.50 for labor and $2.50 for interest, we 

 have $50 charged up against each cow annually. 

 Now what shall we put on the other side of the 

 account? We will allow $10 per cow for the 

 feeding value of the skim-milk, which would be 

 28% cents per 100 lbs. for the skim-milk of the 

 average cow, and we still have $40 against 

 the cow, which must be met by the butter pro- 



