Thirty-fourth Annual Convention. ^^^ 



The first of February, 1907, another association commenced 

 operations at Coopersville, Ottawa county, and since then 

 associations have been organized at Bay City, Caro and Lapeer. 

 The indications are that many more wih be organized in the 

 near future. In the operation of these associations we have 

 copied after those in operation in the intensive dairy districts of 

 the old world. It is generally recognized that the high position 

 those countries occupy in dairying has been reached through 

 these co-operative efforts more than through any other one thing. 

 It is believed that nothing could be done by this Department 

 which would be of more benefit to the dairy farmer than to render 

 all assistance possible in the organization of cow testing associa- 

 tions in every dairy community in the state. 



Practical Workings of the Association. 



A few farmers in a community owning a suf^cient number 

 of cows simply meet and organize under the laws of the state, 

 elect officers and hire a competent man to do the testing. The 

 expense is to be paid pro rata by each man in proportion to the 

 number of cows he owns. It is desirable to have a sufficient num- 

 ber of cows in the association so that the expense will not exceed 

 $1 to $1.50 per cow a year. The tester visits one herd a day. He 

 arrives in the afternoon, sees the cows milked, weighs the milk, 

 takes a sample from each cow, weighs the cow's milk, estimates 

 the feed and the cost, both night and morning. Then he tests the 

 milk of each cow and figures out the cost of the ration, leaving a 

 record for the farmer. This farmer then takes him and his outfit 

 to the next farmer, and so on. He gets to each farm every 

 month, so that a farmer has monthly records each year At the 

 end of the year, the tester figures up the yield of milk and butter 

 fat and the value of the same, the cost of feed to maintain each 

 cow a year, and figures out the profit or loss on each individual 

 in the herd, and furnishes every patron with this complete record. 

 What dairyman in Michigan can afford to be without this knowl- 

 edge of his dairy herd when the expense will not exceed $1 or 

 $1.50 per cow? - Suppose a man should come to you and say that 

 he would tell you just exactly how much profit you were making 

 on each cow for $1 or $1.50. Would you not think it a bargain 

 to accept the proposition? And yet this is just what a co-opera- 

 tive cow testing association offers to every man. 



