ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 303 



from pasture, wintering the herd on red top and corn stover. 

 He has a large amount of cheap pasture land and by allowing the 

 cows to come fresh during the early spring they produce a fair 

 amount of milk perhaps, until cold weather. Some cows con- 

 tinue to milk all winter, yet for some weeks there is no milk de- 

 livered from the farm. The argument is, that by having cheap 

 cows and cheap pasture, the production is nearly clear gain, as the 

 food consumed in winter is of secondary importance, because 

 the corn is fed to swine and the red top seed removed and sold. 

 There is perhaps a grain of truth in this argument, but a study 

 of the herd and its surroundings leads straight to the conclusion 

 that if better cattle were obtained and more suitable stables pro- 

 vided, the labor now expended would give a larger return and 

 that with more effort a proportionately greater return could 

 be obtained. 



If the food consumed had not been exceedingly cheap, the 

 herd would have been kept at a loss. There is not much profit 

 in a herd of this kind under any conditions, yet under the peculiar 

 circumstances indicated, it is possible that the owner realized a 

 small gain. The skimmilk returned to the farm is turned to good 

 account in feeding swine »and must be credited to the herd, yet 

 a larger production of milk would afford more skimmilk for pork 

 making. The fact is also overlooked that the creamery needs 

 support during the winter and that butter fat usually commands 

 a higher price at that time. Only one cow produced over 200 

 pounds of butter fat, seven produced between 150 and 200 

 pounds, the remainder of the 25 cows being below this amount, 

 two cows yeilding less than 100 pounds. The herd is worthy of 

 a better record under different conditions. Since the testing 

 began, a pure-bred sire has been introduced by which in conjunc- 

 tion with better methods it is hoped to see the herd put into 

 better productive form.* 



