ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 2H 



place. It is safe to say that Southern Illinois will be known in 

 the future by her dairy products because the dairymen are begin- 

 ning to put into operation more improved methods. 



Over a year ago we began testing the individual cows in 

 twenty-four herds, to determine the annual production of milk 

 and butter-fat for each cow. Certain herds were selected at vari- 

 ous places, the owners of which would consent to keep the 

 records accurately. They were furnished scales, sample bottles, 

 and record sheets and weighed the milk from each cow every 

 milking, taking a composite sample from each cow every ninth 

 week. In all the herds but two the weighing is done each milk- 

 ing throughout the year, no difficulty being met with in induc- 

 ing the owners to do so. The result obtained in this way are 

 much more valuable than those where the owners confine their 

 weighing to the weeks when the composite samples are taken. 

 From these continuous milk records and the tests of the compo- 

 site samples, the year's production can be estimated very closely, 

 the greatest variation not exceeding 5 per cent of the actual 

 amount. The owner furnishes a report of the kinds and approxi- 

 mate amounts of food consumed so that, knowing the cost of 

 the foods and the value of each cows' production it is easy to de- 

 termine which cow is profitable and which ones are being kept 

 at a loss. This you see is a practical and simple method which 

 can be applied by anyone to determine the comparative value of 

 his cow. It is simply a matter of weighing the milk from each 

 cow separately, keeping a record of the amounts and testing a 

 composite sample from each cow every ninth week. 



When we began testing herds in Southern Illinois it was not 

 a question of finding cows enough, but rather to decide from the 

 many available herds which ones to take. The dairymen ses 

 the value of testing their cows for they have come to realize that 

 the cow is the fundamental factor in dairying and the one with 

 which they must grapple first. When you reflect that good cows 

 were not to be had, the necessity for careful study of each herd 

 with reference to its improvement will be apparent. In some 

 cases the supply of dairy cows in other states has been drawn 



