32 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



breed; we find here that the best one made nearly 20 per cent greater 

 profit than the poorest at the Pan-American prices with almost exactly 

 the same ration, while 20c per lb. ior butter and present prices for feed, 

 the difference would have been over 50 per cent. 



This marked difference in cows brought together from different 

 localities would seem to teach that dairymen should not depand on buy- 

 ing cows to keep up the herd, but should build up and gradually improve 

 by rearing from the best at hand and constantly weeding out the poorest. 

 Even a careful test with Babcock and scales at just one time, will not 

 tell what a cow will do for a year or for six months, and the best of 

 judges are often deceived by appearances. 



Medora Fern made a very good showing for three months, but then 

 fell off rapidly, while apparently n perfect health; and at the end of the 

 six months was making very little profit with butter at 25c. 



One point about the best and poorest cow of each breed at the Pan- 

 American, which seems a little strange, and yet would certainly seem sig- 

 nificant, is the fact that in every breed the most profitable cow tested 

 high, and the lesser profitable one low (for their breed.) 



In several of the breeds the profit of the five cows is graded just in the 

 order of the richness of their milk. Notice the test of the Jerseys in the 

 order of their profit from highest to lowest: 5.64, 4.74, 4.40, 4.27, 3.98. 

 The Brown Swiss, 4.09, 3.80, 3.61,3.45, 3.25. 



In nearly all breeds there is some uniformity of progression in rich- 

 ness corresponding with profit, but there are of course some irregularities 

 in this. 



COMPOSITION OF MILK. 



Since my part of the work in this test was the weighing and testing 

 of milk for butter fat and total solids, I shall confine the balance of my 

 remarks to this phase of the work. 



The average composition of milk of the several breeds at Buffalo for 

 butter fat and for total solids is shown by the following table: 



