210 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



period at the college farm, a part of the increase in production 

 should be attributed to their normal development. However, 

 the greater part of the increase is considered due to the develop- 

 ment of digestive and milk secreting systems due to superior 

 feeding and milking, and the residual effects of better feeding, 

 as the cows had all been but scantily fed and poorly cared for 

 before coming to the farm. It will be noticed that the cows 

 increased rapidly and steadily up to the fourth lactation period, 

 at the station when they produced 59% more milk and 54% 

 more fat than during the first period. This is a much greater 

 increase over the four-year-old performance than was ever se- 

 cured from animals raised on the college farm and is five times 

 as great as the breed associations' handicap (by which the four- 

 year-old is required to produce 90% as much as required of a 

 mature cow five years old or over). The decrease for the fol- 

 lowing periods is not regular, due to the fact that cow No. 31 

 produced much more during the seventh than during the sixth 

 period, but the decline is what one would expect from advancing 

 age. 



In the net returns column it will be noticed that the greatest 

 returns were secured in the fourth period after coming to the 

 farm when the average for the two cows was $37.48 as against 

 $13.93 the first year and $1.97 the sixth. 



The average cost per pound of butterfat decreased from 

 26 cents the first year to 18 to 21 cents except during the sixth 

 year when one of the cows made a very poor record. The de- 

 crease of practically 30% in cost per pound of butterfat from 

 the first year to the second, third, and fourth indicates that the 

 cows used much of the feed the first year to build up their bodies. 



In table II are shown the successive records of cows Nos. 7, 

 8, 9, 12, and 33. All of these were aged cows and due to old 

 age were kept but three years in the college herd, where some 

 of them produced heifer calves by purebred dairy bulls. The 

 records of these heifers are shown in subsequent tables. 



It will be noted that these five aged cows did not respond to 

 improved feeding and management in such a way as to show 

 increased production during succeeding lactation periods. How- 

 ever, it cannot be said that these cows did not increase in produc- 

 tion after coming to the farm and receiving improved rations 



