Thirty-fourth Annual Convention. ^^^ 



Here is one herd where there is a difference between the net 

 profits from the best and poorest cow of $52.00 a year. These 

 two cows put side by side and from the external appearance we 

 were unable to say which one was the best dairy cow. Several 

 of these cows show a loss for the year, one as high as $11.00, and 

 a great many of these who indicated that they were unprofitable, 

 were sold as soon as this fact was suspected. 



I have figured the cost of producing 100 pounds of milk 

 with some of these cows. Take this first herd for instance, the 

 best cow produced milk at the cost of 60 cents a hundred, while 

 the poorest one charged its owner $1.85 per 100 pounds. In the 

 next herd the best cow charged 41 cents per 100, and the poorest 

 one required $2.15 worth of feed to produce 100 pounds of milk. 

 In figuring the cost of production we have paid attention to only 

 the amount of feed consumed. We have figured that the calf, 

 the skim milk and the manure pay for the labor in taking care 

 of the cow. 



Going back to the records I find here a herd of nineteen 

 cows. The best cow charges 42 cents per 100 pounds for milk 

 production, and the poorest one charges $2.20 per 100. In other 

 words, if a man had a herd of cows like the best one of these he 

 would be getting $2.31 for every dollar he expended on them in 

 feed. He could soon pay off the mortgage on his farm and could 

 afford to give his family all the comforts money could buy. 

 While this other cow only returns him 65 cents for every dollar's 

 worth of feed he spends on her. This man knew nothing about 

 these facts when we began testing his cows, in fact, he was 

 rather proud of his cows and thought they were all good ones. 

 It reminds me of a story of the farmer who went to Chicago to 

 see the sights. Before he went his wife admonished him to be 

 very observant and remember all he saw so he could tell her about 

 it when he got back. In the city the farmer saw a boy playing 

 the slot machine. He watched him for a while and began figur- 

 ing out how he was coming out financially, and he figured that 

 for every nickel the boy put in the machine he received about 

 three cents back. When the farmer came home he told his wife 

 about that blamed fool of a boy who did not know enough to 

 quit, although he only received three cents for every five cents 

 that he expended on the slot machine. But after awhile the 

 same farmer put on his blue jeans and went out to feed his cows, 



