326 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



and to what extent the profits could be increased by simply dis- 

 posing of a few poor cows. If the largest returns are to be ob- 

 tained, it is necessary to Weed out the unprofitable cows from the 

 herd. This testing and weeding out of the unprofitable cows 

 has been advocated for several years. Test associations for this 

 purpose have been recently started in all the most prominent dairy 

 countries of the world. Hoard's Dairyman, through its valuable 

 cow census work, has shown clearly that many herds in different 

 sections of the United States are kept at an actual loss. The De- 

 partment of Dairy Husbandry at the University of Illinois has 

 published no less than ten bulletins and circulars on this subect 

 in the past five years. But for all that, both the dairymen and 

 the public have not realized the full significance of this work. 

 The reason so many herds are kept at an actual loss or little profit 

 is because a man with a large herd of poor cows may receive 

 a large check at the end of each month, but he does not see the 

 large expense bill that must be subtracted from this. The total 

 receipts must not be looked upon as the net profit. 



In an attempt to bring out these facts more clearly, and to 

 save the dairymen much figuring, the following table has been 

 worked out. This table is based on the experience and findings of 

 the Department of Dairy Husbandry during the past thirteen 

 years. To illustrate the use and value of this table, it is here 

 applied to the yearly records of the individual cows of five herds 

 taken from the many herds which have been tested by this depart- 

 ment. 



This table and its application to herds proves that many men 

 are, twice each day, milking cows that are not paying for the feed 

 they eat. Yet the laborious task is continued, year after year, in 

 the vain attempt to make money with a class of cows utterly un- 

 able to return a profit. The game of making money with in- 

 efficient cows is absolutely blocked, yet many dairymen are so 

 busy milking these poor cows that their vision is apparently be- 

 dimmed, and they cannot see the ultimate outcome. One might 

 as well pay his entry fee and attempt to win a race in the 2 :10 

 class with a draft horse that could not go a mile in five minutes, 



