14 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



On the other hand dairy products take very little fer- 

 tility from the farm in proportion to their selling value. A 

 ton of milk removes $2.49 worth of fertility v^hile a ton 

 of butter removes only $.64 v^orth. But this does not tell 

 all the story. The dairy farmer usually is a purchaser 

 rather than a seller of grain and by this means adds con- 

 stantly to the fertility of the farm. On a well managed dairy 

 farm legumes are grown and it is usually the case that high 

 protein by-products such as linseed meal, cotton seed meal 

 or bran are purchased to balance home grown grains. Not 

 only do these by-products furnish the needed protein to bal- 

 ance the ration but also furnish a large amount of fertility 

 for the farm. The fact is that cottonseed meal at present 

 prices can be purchased for just about its fertilizer value. 



The special value of the dairy cow as a domestic animal 

 arises from her ability to consume and digest large amounts 

 of roughage and convert it into milk and meat suitable for 

 the digestion of man. 



The hog exceeds all other animals in regard to the 

 amount of meat produced from a given amount of feed but 

 it can only use a limited amount of roughage. It must de- 

 dend largely on grain for its food. 



Sheep can utilize roughage but other factors prevent 

 the keeping of sufficient numbers to use the immense quan- 

 tities of roughage available from the growing of crops. 



The production of large amounts of roughage is nec- 

 essary in connection with the growing of crops and we must 

 depend largely upon the cow and the steer to convert this 

 roughage into a form suitable for human food. The cow is 

 a much more economical producer of human food than is the 

 steer. 



Professor Eckles has found in comparing the milk 

 production of a Holstein cow with a steer weighing 1250 

 pounds that the 18,405 pounds of milk, the production of 

 this particular cow in a year, contained 2218 pounds of 

 dry matter while that of the steer contained 548 pounds. 

 The milk produced by the cow contained more than four 

 times as much dry matter as that of the steer. The dry 

 matter of the cow's milk is all edible and digestible while 



