326 



ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



As it requires .55 of an acre of corn for the winter six 

 months and .32 of an acre for the summer six months, it fol- 

 lows that .87 of an acre of corn would supply the corn ration for 

 a cow for one year. Since it takes .22 of an acre of alfalfa for 

 the winter six months and .31 of an acre for the summer six 

 months, .53 of an acre of alfalfa would be sufficient to supply 

 the alfalfa part of the ration for a cow for one year. The 87.02 

 acres of corn available for dairy stock would support 99.9 cows, 

 and the 52.95 acres of alfalfa which are available for dairy stock 

 would support 100.3 cows. It necessarily follows that by this 

 system 100 cows could be kept on the 139.97 acres available for 

 this purpose, which means 1.4 acres per cow per year. A herd 

 of this size would require two bulls and the raising, on the av- 

 erage, of 14 heifers a year to replenish the herd. This system 

 would then support 84 milch cows producing an average of 6000 

 pounds of milk per year, or a total of 504,000 pounds for the 

 farm averaging 3150 pounds per acre. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



Comparing actual results obtained on practical dairy farms 

 in the intensive dairy region of northern Illinois with each of 

 these systems, we find the following results : 



TABLE 13. — Percent of Land in Different Crops and Returns Per Acre. 



CROP 



System 

 No. I 



Farm 

 No. I 



System 

 No. 2 



Farm 

 No. 2 



System 

 No. 3 



Farm 



No. 3 



System 

 No. 4 



Farm 



No. 4 



Corn 25 25 



Oats 25 21.5 



Timothy 12.5 16 



Clover 



Clover and timothy 



Pasture 37.5 37.5 



Alfalfa 



37.5 23.5 37.5 35 



02 



5 56 



12.5 10 



12.5 14 



12.5 

 12.5 



25 



19.5 

 19.5 

 27.5 



12.5 14 



25 r 37 



12.5 ... 



37 



5 43.5 



Lbs. milk per acre 991 994 1475 1341 2025 2145 3150 4185 



Amount feed purchased $400 $500 $1100 



