8 
BULLETIN 49, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
making: the total cost of the milk 47 per cent of the feed item for the 
first year. The grain mixture is of next importance to milk, amount- 
ing to 28.2 per cent of the total cost of feed. The variation in cost 
of each feed for the different months is in direct proportion to the 
quantity fed, except for the grain mixture, which is affected also by 
slight fluctuations in the prices of bran, oats, and oil meal. The 
cheapest period of the year is during the summer months, when 
pasture makes up a part or the whole of the feed cost. The drop in 
the totals of feed for 
the month of Febru- 
ary is due to the 
shorter month. 
The prices of feeds 
are best discussed in 
connection with Table 
XIV (p. 21). 
HOUES OF LABOR AND 
THEIR COST FOR THE 
FIRST YEAR. 
The total number of 
hours of labor for the 
first year and its cost 
are given by months 
in Table IV. All the 
time required for the 
direct care of the 
calves is included and 
also the time taken to 
mix and haul feeds to 
the calf barn. The 
greater part of the 
man labor is spent in 
feeding and bedding. 
The calves are fed 
twice daily with the 
exception of the first 
few days, when it is neces-ary to feed the new calves at noon also. 
The feeding is done quite regularly, usually between 7 and 8 o'clock 
in the morning and again between 4.30 and 6 o'clock in the evening. 
The steam heater for warming the skim milk is located at some 
little distance from both the dairy house and the calf barn, and thus 
extra steps are required to carry the milk at feeding time. The calves 
are fastened in stanchions at meal time, and each pail of milk is set 
in the feed trough, which keeps it from being upset (fig. 2). After 
Fig. 2. — The interior of the calf barn, showing the 
stanchions and feeding trough. The calves are fas- 
tened in the stanchions at meal time and the pails of 
milk set in the trough in fi'ont of them. 
