BULLETIN 955, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
western Washington (Department Bulletin 919), and Vermont (De- 
partment Bulletin 923). This bulletin deals with the conditions in 
the vicinity of New Orleans, La. The work was organized among a 
group of 17 dairymen living in Tangipahoa Parish, La., in March, 
1918. The specialist of the department made monthly visits to each 
farm for two years, until April, 1920. This locality was selected 
because the farms are typical of conditions found in that section and 
the milk is shipped to a large city market, New Orleans. 
Although the figures obtained show what was required to produce 
market milk under the system of dairy management found in the 
section studied, and probably approximate the requirements in similar 
sections, they, of course, do not apply to dairying in other sections, 
where other conditions and methods of management prevail. The 
dairies were subject to the inspection system controlling the sanitary 
conditions under which milk could be shipped and sold in the New 
Orleans market. The cost of production would have been somewhat 
different if either higher or lower grades of milk had been produced. 
The results have been reported separately for the winter and sum- 
mer seasons because the season of the year may have a marked influ- 
ence on the principal factors of cost. Summer conditions prevail from 
April to September, inclusive, and winter conditions from October to 
March, inclusive. This division of time was used in reporting the 
results for the winter and summer seasons. 
The various tables are based upon figures obtained during the two- 
year study and the weighted averages of these records were used 
whenever they would express the results more accurately. The 
weighted average was obtained by giving each item a different weight 
in the average according to its relative importance. 
METHODS OF OBTAINING DATA. 
The figures reported are based on actual records obtained by regular 
monthly full-day visits to 14 farms for two years and to 8 other 
farms for one year. 
At the beginning and the end of each year the field agent took an 
inventory of the dairy buildings, livestock, and equipment used in 
the care of the herd and its products. On his regular monthly visit 
at each farm the agent, with watch in hand, noted and recorded the 
exact minute each labor operation in the dairy was begun and ended. 
An equally careful record was obtained of the kind, description, 
quantity, and cost of each feed used, the quantity of milk sold that 
month, and the amount received for it. In addition, the milk used 
by the proprietor and his help or fed to calves was measured or 
weighed on the monthly visit and used as a basis for determining the 
quantity kept on the farm during the month. 
