THIRTY-SIXTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. 129 



a year. You will then be able to distinguish the poor cows from 

 the good ones. I have been testing my herd and keeping an in- 

 dividual record of each cow for over five years. 



Before I tested my herd I averaged $30.00 per cow per year 

 for butter fat at the creamery. I was quite sure I was not re- 

 ceiving as much from my herd as they cost me to keep them, or 

 at least was not making any profit. In December, 1903, I began 

 testing my herd and have been testing them continuously ever 

 since. 



The first year I tested my herd of fourteen cows averaged 

 5,800 pounds of milk and 224 pounds of fat. The lowest cow 

 produced 3,321 pounds of milk and 151 pounds of fat, while the 

 best cow produced 9,802 pounds of milk and 386 pounds of fat, 

 a difference of 6,481 pounds of milk and 235 pounds of fat. Six 

 of the fourteen cows I had produced less than 200 pounds. 



The lowest seven cows averaged 179 pounds fat and 4,825 

 pounds milk, and the highest seven averaged 269 pounds fat and 

 7,128 pounds milk, a difference of 2,303 pounds milk and 90 

 pounds fat. 



One of the surprises at the close of this year's test was the 

 great difference in the production of cows, Nos. 6 and 7. These 

 cows stood side by side in the barn. Both received approximate- 

 ly the same amount of feed, and I had always considered both of 

 them excellent cows. Cow No. 6 produced 9,802 pounds of milk 

 containing 386 pounds fat. No. 7 produced 4,701 pounds milk 

 containing 176 pounds fat, a difference of 5,101 pounds of milk 

 and 210 pounds of fat. The one produced $3.00 for every dol- 

 lar's worth of feed consumed, the other $1.40. 



No. 6 was a high grade Holstein; the other was a grade 

 shorthorn cow of the dual purpose kind. No. 7 was a beautiful 

 looking cow, having an exceptionally large pendulous udder, but 

 not very large milk veins. Cow No. 6 returned a little more than 

 five times as much net profit in a year as No. 7. A small herd 

 of ten cows like No. 6 will return as much net profit in a year as 

 a herd of 53 cows like No. 7. 



This is not all of the difference in these cows. Think of the 

 difference in the cost of building and keeping in repair a barn for 



