294 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



cock test. A pair of scales, some half pint bottles, some corrosive 

 sublimate tablets for preserving the samples, and some milk 

 sheets do not cost much, and if properly used will return many 

 times their cost in a year. You will then be able to distinguish 

 the poor cows from the good ones. I have been testing my herd 

 and keeping an individual record of each cow for over five years. 



Before I tested my herd I averaged about $30 per cow per 

 year for butter fat at the creamery. I was quite sure I was not 

 receiving as much from my herd as they cost me to keep them, 

 or, at least, was not making any profit. 



In December, 1903, I began testing my herd and have been 

 testing them continuously ever since. 



The first year I tested, my herd of fourteen cows averaged 

 5,800 pounds milk and 224 pounds fat. The lowest cow pro- 

 duced 3,321 pounds of milk and 151 pounds fat, while the best 

 cow produced 9,802 pounds of milk and 386 pounds of fat, a 

 difference of 6,481 pounds of milk and 235 pounds of fat. Six 

 of the fourteen cows I had produced less than 200 pounds of fat. 



The lowest seven cows averaged 719 pounds fat and 4,825 

 pounds milk and the highest seven averaged 269 pounds fat 

 and 7,128 of milk, a difference of 2,303 pounds of milk and 90 

 pounds of fat. 



One of the surprises, at the close of this year's test, was the 

 great difference in the production of cows Nos. 6 and 7. These 

 cows stood side by side in the barn. Both received approximate- 

 ly the same amount of feed and I had always considered both 

 of them excellent cows. Cow No. 6 produced 9,802 pounds milk 

 containing 386 pounds fat. No. 7 produced 4,701 pounds milk 

 containing 176 pounds fat. 



A difference of 5,101 pounds milk and 210 pounds fat. 

 The one produced $3 for every dollar's worth of feed con- 

 sumed, the other $1.40. 



Number 6 was a high grade Holstein. The other was a 

 grade shorthorn cow of the dual purpose kind. 



