VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 



$5 a ton, it is a mighty poor cow that will not pay for her 

 feed and make for her owner some sort of a net profit to 

 remunerate him for his labor. Farmers complained bitterly 

 in those times because it was impossible to secure more for 

 the butterfat. Today the farmer is, in many localities, re- 

 ceiving an average of more than 30 cents a pound the year 

 around for butterfat. If, however, he will look the prop- 

 osition squarely in the face, he will find that with corn worth 

 50 cents or more a bushel ; oats, from 32 to 40 cents a bushel ; 

 bran, from $25 to $28 a ton; oil meal, from $30 to $40 per 

 ton ; hay, from $10 to $20 per ton ; and other foods proportion- 

 ately high, he is making less real profit in feeding cows on 

 land worth from $100 to $300 per acre than he did during 

 those times which he called hard. This statement is made 

 advisedly and refers to that class of cows which are apt to be 

 found on the average farm. 



Farm conditions have changed so radically and yet so 

 gradually that few are the farmers who realize that they 

 really are milking a number of cows over 700 times each 

 year merely for the fun of doing so, and yet statistics de- 

 termined by considering the number of cows milked in the 

 United States and the number of farms upon which they are 

 milked will bear out the statement that on the average 

 farm someone is wasting annually 27.2 days every year milking 

 cows that return no profit whatever. 



There are two reasons why there are so many profitless 

 cows: 



First, on the average farm cows are not cared for properly. 

 They do not receive feed in the proper amounts or of the 

 proper character. The barns in which they are kept are often 

 dark, damp, cold and poorly ventilated. The cows are milked, 

 fed and watered at irregular intervals and, as a matter of 

 fact, they are not seriously considered from the standpoint 

 of farm profits. Cows cared for under conditions such as 

 these are victims of misfortune, and it matters little how well 

 bred they may be or how excellent their individuality; it is 

 out of the question to expect that they will make for their 

 owner any great amount of profit. 



Second, there are being kept on the farms of the United 

 States a vast number of cows so lacking in breeding, individu- 

 ality and ability that it is impossible for them to produce 

 profitably. It makes no difference whether they are found 

 on the common farm under adverse conditions or in the high- 

 class dairy where they receive every possible opportunity by 

 way of feed, care and treatment; they will never return a 

 cent of profit over and above the cost of the feed they con- 

 sume. 



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