What i i tal iv - 
200 Mi ea here MDI CNR I DIOIN WUAGAZIN ® 
NoveEmMBeER, 1908 
How to Make the Dairy Pay 
HERE are about eighteen million dairy 
cattle in the United States and fully 
half of them are kept at a positive financial 
loss. If you credit each cow with the value 
of the milk and butter she produces, and 
deduct the interest on her value, the market 
price of her food, the cost of milking and 
caring for her and one-seventh of her value 
each year, you will find that half the cows 
in this country are a losing venture. The 
census for recent years shows that the number 
of dairy cows for every thousand inhabitants 
has been steadily decreasing, and at the 
same time, the consumption of milk per 
capita has increased. This indicates how 
much has been done in improving breeds 
of dairy cattle. 
In 1900 the average production of every 
dairy cow in the United States was increased 
by over a thousand pounds of milk per cow 
<< 
GHEE 
2 ——— Sn 2 - 
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This is due to the fact that Amatite 
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BARRETT MANUFACTURING CO. 
New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, 
Cleveland, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Kansas City, 
Minneapolis, New Orleans, St. Louis, London, 
Eng. 
over what the census showed in 1890. This 
would be about 500 quarts per cow, and if we 
estimate that the milk sold at two cents a 
quart, the amount that the improvement of 
the dairy cow has added to the country is 
$180,000,000 annually. 
In spite of all this, and the unquestionable 
superiority of pure bred cattle over scrubs, 
the latter are still largely in the majority. 
It is quite an exceptional thing to see a cow 
of pure breed in many of the well known dairy 
sections. ‘This is due to a number of causes. 
Perhaps one of the leading ones is that the 
small farmer does not as a rule raise his 
own cows, but prefers to send the calves to 
market and to buy a fresh cow when occasion 
requires it. 
The question as to which breed will make 
a quart of milk the cheapest naturally 
interests dairymen and should also interest 
the small farmer. The answer seems to be 
that the Holsteins will, although the Ayre- 
shires are a very close second. The Guern- 
seys and Jerseys are specialists in producing 
milk that contains a large percentage of 
butter fat, and therefore are more desirable 
as butter producing cows. 
The ultimate fate of the dairy cow is to go 
to the butcher, and some farmers try to get 
a cow that will in a sense answer a dual 
purpose. There is no such thing. Any 
breed that proves itself most profitable for 
the dairy is bound to be of little value as 
a beef cow. The conformation and habits of 
the two breeds are entirely different. 
The best way to tell whether your cows are 
paying their board or not is to weigh the 
milk at stated intervals, to have a cream 
separator, Babcock testers, and to keep 
accurate records. When you have deter- 
mined as to the relative merits of your herd, 
then weed out the unprofitable ones. 
As many of the readers of THE GARDEN 
MAGAZINE-FARMING are interested in the 
dairy proposition purely from a one or two 
cow standpoint, perhaps they may feel that 
the suggestions in the foregoing remarks 
will not be entirely applicable to their 
case, but whether you keep one cow or one 
hundred, you should be content with noth- 
ing but the best. 
New Jersey Joun HARRISON 
is Dstt Sot atts: 
