FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION 129 



butterfat per cow just on account of feeding better rations, at an 

 increased cost of from $2 to $4. 



Better care of cows where more interest in the herd has been 

 developed has been very apparent. Do your cows get water 

 with the chill taken from it? The cow's temperature ranges 

 from 99 to 102 degrees. It becomes necessary for her to warm 

 the water if it is at freezing point to the temperature of her body. 

 Does this not take fuel? We believe water can be heated more 

 economically by the use of wood, coal or corn cobs than by feed- 

 ing grains that are worth 2c per pound. Does your cow drink 

 as much water with ice floating in the tank as when the tempera- 

 ture is about 45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit? Milk contains about 

 85% water. Doubtless weighing the milk will bring out this 

 point very forcibly to you. Perhaps your barn has been cold 

 this winter. Do you stop and realize that the cow that is pro- 

 ducing 8,000 to 10,000 pounds of milk per year is Working under 

 heavy pressure and she must be kept comfortable if we expect 

 her to continue this work. Better barns have been brought into 

 the communities where the cow testing associations are in pro- 

 gress. 



Does it pay to use bred-for-production sires ? We have de- 

 veloped animals that are adapted for different purposes. The 

 draft horse is used to transport great loads in the city streets at 

 slow spded. The trotting horse has been developed for great 

 speed, but cannot be used for the transportation of heavy loads. 

 The Scotch Collie dog, on account of its breeding and natural 

 adaptability to the livestock farms, has a natural aptitude for the 

 herding of sheep, driving of cattle, yet the huntsman would not 

 consider the selection of a Scotch Collie dog to go out and trail 

 the wolf or fox. He would take a wolf or fox hound that was 

 bred for generations for that particular purpose. The breeder 

 of cattle, if he has studied the business, would not select the beef 

 cow for economical milk production, or the dairy cow for beef 

 production. So we find in cow testing associations that the cow 

 with dairy bred blood in her veins is a much more profitable ani- 

 mal on the average farm. In the following chart I have figured 

 the data in several associations. Each letter designates certain 

 associations w^hich contain 350 to 500 cows. ''Grade" desig- 

 nates a dairy bred animal, containing perhaps an average of four 



