FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONVENTION 117 



fundamental factor in milk production. Abundant oxygen 

 for the blood is as essential as plenty of rich food for the 

 body. And there is no question that such comfort and an 

 adequate supply of oxygen are quite commonly denied to 

 farm dairy herds. Too many herds live "at a poor dying 

 rate" in tight barns and cramped quarters during the cold 

 months and cannot possibly make as good use of their feed 

 or as high production as they would with the greater com- 

 fort of freedom and plenty of fresh air. 



Earning Power of Kindness and Comfort. 



Of the many great services of Ex-Governor Hoard to 

 the dairy farmers and to the dairy cows of the country, one 

 of the most important was his teaching in a striking man- 

 ner that the dairy cow was a mother and that she was en- 

 titled to kind treatment and a comfortable life. This is her 

 only possible remuneration. Kindness and comfort are the 

 cheapest essentials on the dairy farm, paying as high a rate 

 of interest as any other factor; yet they are frequently 

 neglected. 



A good dairy cow has, by nature, a highly developed 

 nervous system, and is very sensitive to the kind of treat- 

 ment given her. Kindness is especially important at milking 

 time, because that is when the milk is being secreted, yet 

 that is most frequently the time when cows are abused or 

 startled. Whenever they are disturbed or made uncomfort- 

 able there is a reduction in the secretion of milk. A cow 

 producing even 20 pounds of milk per day is doing an enor- 

 mous amount of work and one producing 40 pounds, or five 

 gallons, per day is doing much more than a horse at the 

 lardest kind of labor. 



Losing One-fourth the Profit. 



Since it takes about 160 lbs. of butterfat to pay for a 



iow's feed and keep, under ordinary farm conditions, and 



he average cow in Illinois produces 212 lbs. of fat, only the 



ast fourth of what a cow produces goes for profit. If her 



lotal product is shrunk only one-eighth, it reduces the profit 



