134 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



The cow that yielded the most product gave 8,949 pounds of milk, and 

 made 472 pounds of butter. The poorest cow produced 1,842 pounds of 

 milk, 68 pounds of butter, and the average production for all the herds, 

 except Gurler's (D), was 4,721 pounds of milk, 3.67 per cent fat, 172 pounds 

 of butter fat, and 202 pounds of butter. 



It would not give the average production of the ordinary cows in Illi- 

 nois if Gurler's herd were included, for he has been applying the scales 

 and test for a number of years, hence his improved dairy. It should also 

 be considered that the men who took up this work had been interested in 

 improving their dairies, and undoubtedly have better cows than the aver- 

 age. 



The most profitable cow gave a net profit of $57.22 and the poorest 

 cow was kept at an actual loss of $17.83. The average net profit was 

 $9.96 per cow. 



The above facts show clearly that the average production of the 

 Illinois dairy cow can be doubled and the profit increased fourfold. 



This can be done with little expense to the farmer. It will require 

 better care and better feed for his stock, and the application of the scales 

 and the Babcock test so that he can select and breed his animals more 

 intelligently. 



The results in this bulletin indicate that good care and good feed with 

 judicious selection are the prime factors necessary for profitable milk and 

 butter production. 



For over a year the Department of Dairy Husbandry of the University 

 of Illinois has been conducting field work among the dairymen of the 

 state. A number of them were persuaded to weigh and sample each mess 

 of milk a sufficient number of times during the year so that the perform- 

 ance of each cow could be estimated with a considerable degree of 

 accuracy. It has been demonstrated by a number of our experiment sta- 

 tions that many cows are kept in the dairy at a very small profit and some 

 at an actual loss. In order to determine the facts and to lead the dairy- 

 men to realize their full force and meaning a man was sent into the field 

 to persuade a number of them to keep a record of every cow in their 

 herds. While this bulletin gives no facts new to science, yet it presents 



