202 THE MANAGEAIEXT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



pay for the cost of keeping them, first, in the weeding 

 out of all cows that are not good producers; and, second, 

 in the ambition that is thus generated to aim at securing 

 still higher production from the cows. 



It is entirely practicable, as intimated, to keep full 

 daily records of milk production from all the individuals 

 in a herd. To do this, record forms must be prepared 

 and kept in the stable and in proximity to the weigh 

 scale. As soon as the milk is taken from each cow it is 

 weighed and the amount is rharked on the prepared form. 

 The summing up of these amounts is then a matter of 

 convenience. To avoid accumulation it had better be 

 done not less frequently than once a month. But if the 

 milk is weighed morning and evening, say, twice a 

 month, at the same date in each month, and the average 

 of the two weights taken as the average of the month, 

 the findings will be approximately correct, and to secure 

 them involves much less labor than the method which 

 weighs each milking. 



To test the milk, say, three times a year, will give 

 an approximately correct idea of the quality of the milk, 

 viewed from the standpoint of its constituents, as these 

 do not fluctuate to anything like the same extent as 

 quantity does. The aim should be when making these 

 tests to take them at about equal periods in advance in 

 the lactation. The tests should, of course, be made from 

 all the milk drawn at one milking. The average of the 

 three tests will show approximately the character of the 

 milk. That the approximation may be quite close, how- 

 e\'er. it will be necessary to test the milk of each cow 

 for, say, three consecutive days at the same dates in each 

 month of the lactation period. The average for the three 

 days will represent the a\'erage for the month. 



Odors that are hurtful to milk. — The scope of this 

 treatise does not include the care of milk after it has left 

 the stable. Cut so susceptible is it to the absorption 

 of odors that its quality may be injured liy these before 



