ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 219 



he requires in which to perform it. Since this is the case we must 

 keep a record of each cow's production and test her milk often en- 

 ough to be assured of its average butter fat content. It is no 

 hardship to weigh the milk from each cow every day and hav<? 

 a composite sample of the same tested at regular intervals. In 

 this way the annual production of butter fat can be determined 

 very closely and knowing the approximate value of the food con- 

 sumed by each, it is easy to separate the profitable from the un- 

 profitable cows. Dairymen must wake up and consider the mat- 

 ter seriously. Nature has been provident so far and the indif- 

 ferent milk producer has not been forced to see the economic 

 aspect of milk production in its true light. Competition is becom- 

 ing more intense; he has less margin than formerly and must 

 soon get into the harness of thought and action or out of the 

 business entirely. I shall be able to show later that the persis- 

 tent use of scrub sires and the failure to follow any systematic 

 plan in selecting cows is costing the dairy farmers of Illinois 

 $16,000,000 per year. By better breeding, feeding and selection 

 of cows this loss can be recovered in a period of four years. If, in 

 the meantime, the sanitary conditions surrounding the herd are 

 improved as they should be, the increase may be much greater. 



About two years ago the department of Dairy Husbandry 

 at the University of Illinois began dairy field work in southern 

 Illinois. The object was to come into contact with the milk pro- 

 ducers, through the testing of the individual cows in the different 

 herds; thereby showing the owners how easily the unprofitable 

 ones may be sorted out by weighing the milk from each and 

 testing composite samples taken at stated intervals. At the same 

 time an effort has been made to bring about more rational prac- 

 tices in feeding and the encouragement of methods looking toward 

 the production of better and cheaper milk. Certain herds were 

 selected at various places, the owners of which would consent to 

 keep the records accurately. They were furnished scales, sam- 

 ple bottles and record sheets and weighed the milk from each 

 cow every ninth week. With the exception of two herds, the 

 weighing was done every milking throughout the year. The re- 



