18 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



THE TREMENDOUS ADVANTAGE OF A GOOD 

 DAIRY HERD. 



Prof. W. J. Fraser, University of Illinois. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : — 



The dairy farmer has a large opportunity to use brains and 

 skill in his business. Establishing a good dairy herd and giving 

 them the proper care is quite as difficult a thing to manage as 

 is the growing of crops to feed this herd. For this reason the 

 dairy farmer has twice as much need for skill and judgment as 

 does the grain farmer, if he is to obtain the best success. The 

 importance of the good cow, well fed and cared for, is of the 

 utmost importance to the dairyman. Since the dairy cow is the 

 medium through which the dairyman markets the products of 

 his farm, if he is to make money producing milk it is very im- 

 portant that he have a good herd through which to dispose of 

 the crops of his farm. 



Great Economy of Efficient Cows. 



The following figures are based upon the value of the cow, 

 milk, butter fat, calf, and manure, and also upon the cost of 

 feed, labor, depreciation on cow, interest, taxes, housing, etc. 

 The results show that, under ordinary farm conditions, and 

 with the product sold on the common creamery market, a cow 

 must produce approximately 4,000 pounds of fat to pay for the 

 feed and labor. In other words, this is the dead line. Cows 

 producing less than this are kept at a loss. For every 1,000 

 pounds of milk produced above this, the cow returns a profit 

 of $10.00. 



Doubling the Produition Gives Six Times the Profit. 



A cow producing 5,000 pounds of milk brings in a profit 

 of $10.00, while a cow producing 8,000 pounds of milk returns 

 a profit of $40.00, or four times as much. In other words, ten 

 cows producing 8,000 pounds of milk would return as much 



