12 
BULLETIN 501, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
USE OF BUILDINGS. 
The charge for the use of buildings is made up of interest, taxes, 
depreciation, and repairs on the buildings used for sheltering the 
cows and the necessary storage of cow feed. Interest was figured at 
the rate of 5 per cent on the average of the inventory value taken at 
the beginning and end of each year's record. The actual expense for 
repairs were taken from the financial and labor cost records. The 
farm taxes were apportioned to each enterprise on the farm on the 
basis of actual inventories of taxable properties. The charge for use 
of buildings was prorated to individual cows on the basis of the 
average number in the herd. It is expected that the charge per cow 
Fig. 2. — Barn on a dairy farm in southeastern Pennsylvania, in which the annual charge per cow for 
shelter is less than $5 per year. The pasture, conveniently located, helps to keep down the labor charge. 
for the use of buildings will vary on different farms, depending upon 
the housing efficiency, the value of the buildings used, and the size of 
the herd. It is not uncommon to find farms on which the dairy build- 
ings are too high-priced to allow even a reasonably good cow to show a 
profit after paying her share of the annual cost for such buildings. The 
buildings on these four farms furnish adequate shelter for the cows at 
a moderate cost per cow. (See fig. 2.) The average yearly charge 
varies from 3.2 to 6.6 per cent of the total cost of keeping a cow. 
The average of the four farms is $4.74 per cow. 
USE OF EQUIPMENT. 
The charge for the use of dairy equipment is relatively small. 
Although the rate of depreciation on dairy utensils is high, the 
1 
