130 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



the ten cows and a barn for fifty-three cows, and the difference 

 in the labor required to feed and milk these two herds. One way 

 for the dairyman to solve the labor problem is to sell his poor 

 cows to the butcher and keep all good cows but less in number. 

 Another cow that I had considered a low producer and had at 

 one time thought of selling, produced 5,970 pounds of milk con* 

 taining 272 pounds fat. Her milk averaged 4.55 per cent fat. 

 This cow returned $2.25 for each dollar's worth of feed con- 

 sumed. This only shows how unable we are to distinguish the 

 poor cow from the good one without using the scales and Bab- 

 cock test. 



At the close of the first year's test I sold three of the lowest 

 producing cows. I changed from a summer dairy to an all year 

 dairy. I began to read Hoard's Dairyman, and I also began 

 studying how to feed a cow a balanced ration. I consulted with 

 the Dairy Department of the University of Illinois and received 

 much valuable information from same. 



I sent to both Washington and Urbana for bulletins along 

 dairy lines. The increase in the production of my herd is due to 

 feeding a balanced ration, as well as to weeding out the poor 

 cows and heading the herd with a pure blood sire. 



I bought two new cows that produced 298 pounds and 317 

 pounds of fat respectively. 



At the close of the second year's test the herd averaged 

 7,150 pounds milk and 260 pounds fat, an increase of 1,305 

 pounds milk and 36 pounds fat per cow over the previous year. 

 Only one cow produced less than 200 pounds of fat. The lowest 

 one-half of the herd produced 223 pounds fat, within one pound 

 of the average of the whole herd of the previous year, and the 

 highest one-half produced 298 pounds fat per cow, still showing 

 a difference of 75 pounds fat per cow between the two halves 

 of the herd. 



Two of the lowest producers were again sold and one new 

 cow bought, and three heifers that had been raised were added. 

 The cow that was purchased proved to be a good one producing 

 6,669 pounds milk containing 277 pounds fat. Of the three 



