32 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



Mr. : What per cent of your heifers are good? 



Mr. Foss : About 50^0 is represented here. We are not^ 

 quite far enough along. This represents about 75'?'^ of the 

 heifers we have raised. I have sold poor producers, but only 

 one that was a losing proposition. We have a lot of heifers 

 now that are only about 3 years old, and in three or four years 

 we will have a lot more just as good as those are. 



Mr. : You charge those cows $3 a ton for bedding, 



and only credit them a dollar a ton for manure. Is that fair to 

 the cow? 



Mr. Foss : I disagree with Mr. Parson, but that is how it is 

 figured. Yes, it is unfair. I produce the bedding. If I had to 

 buy it, that is what I would pay. Figuring in all your labor, oat 

 straw is not worth more than $1 a ton. 



Mr. Mason : They sell it up our way for $7. 



Mr. Foss : Those cows are kept in the barn all winter, until 

 they are put to pasture, going to the spring twice a day to 

 water. If you have everything else and if you have not the right 

 kind of water you will lose out. A cow must consume a lot of 

 water every day to produce milk. The water must be of the 

 right temperature, not ice cold, but at a temperature of about 48. 

 If they don't consume the water, they will cut down on the pro- 

 duction. 



