108 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



MOST MILK PER ACRE ON FARM FEEDS ALONE 



Wilber J. Eraser, University of Illinois. 

 In Hoard's Dairyman. 



To determine the maximum amount of milk and butter- 

 fat per acre that can be economically produced when all 

 of the feed for the stock is raised upon the land, a part of 

 the University Dairy Farm was set aside and the demonstra- 

 tion continued for six years. Only twenty acres were avail- 

 able for this purpose. 



The conditions that led to the starting of this work 

 were the tremendous waste of human energy on our dairy 

 farms caused by inefficient dairy herds uneconomically fed 

 and improperly cared for, and crops raised that were not 

 suited to produce the maximum amount of proper dairy feed 

 per acre. This was fourteen years ago. Since that time 

 Illinois dairying has progressed a great deal. Silos have 

 multiplied, clover and alfalfa are more commonly grown; 

 and, most striking of all, the cows now generally kept are of 

 higher quality and production. Yet a large share of the 

 same problem remains — how to produce the most milk and 

 fat per acre in the most practical and economical manner. 



The fact is that dairying has progressed just to the 

 point where the two big factors, growing the most good 

 dairy feed per acre and the most economical feeding, can 

 be applied in general practice. This milk per acre demon- 

 stration carried on for six years at the University sheds the 

 strongest light on this problem, and good practice on many 

 farms has gone far enough to confirm it. Through years of 

 cow testing, dairy teaching, and discussion, multiplied dem- 

 onstrations at the colleges and better practices on many 

 farms, we have come to a fair understanding that good cows 

 and balanced rations are fundamentally necessary. That 

 much is generally acknowledged and, however much we 

 come short of applying it, that is the goal toward which 

 dairy practice is steadily tending. Now we have to com- 



