894 
Ifc RURAL NEW-YORKER 
May 24, 1919 
spect for a man who is a breeder rather 
than a cow dealer, and too many of us 
that are producing milk today are cow 
dealers. 
Results of Testing. —It is necessary 
that every animal in the herd be an effi¬ 
cient unit for converting food products 
into milk if we are to meet the conditions 
imposed by the present high cost of cattle 
and the high cost of food. I recall an 
instance related by Mr. Edward Van 
Alstyne, late Director of Farmers’ In¬ 
stitutes of the State of New York. lie 
cited an instance of a certain farmer in 
his State who was maintaining a herd of 
60 milch cows. It was proposed to or¬ 
ganize a cow-test association in the 
community, and he was invited to become 
a member. lie was not a believer in co¬ 
operative endeavors, neither did he have 
much faith in the proposed cow-testing as¬ 
sociation. lie expressed the belief that 
he knew quite as much about his own 
herd as any individual could determine by 
visiting the premises once a month to 
weigh the milk or test the products. 
However, believing that the community’s 
interests would be promoted by the as¬ 
sociation. and upon having it pointed out 
to him that the cow-testing association 
could not be organized without his sup¬ 
port, he reluctantly consented to become 
a member. At the end of the year the 
records submitted by the cow tester re¬ 
vealed the fact that only 20 cows in his 
herd were producing milk at an actual 
profit, and that the other 40 were para¬ 
Production and Reproduction 
Part I. 
'Factors in Milk Making. —The man 
who is producing milk on his farm today 
is confronted by a great many problems 
that require careful and serious thought 
for their solution. The agitation that has 
prevailed during recent years throughout 
the Eastern district, directed by the farm¬ 
ers for the purpose of securing a reason¬ 
able price for their commodity, is now 
being generally supported by all produc¬ 
ers, and in return they have signified 
their intention of producing commodities 
that will meet the exacting demands of 
the public. There has been a tendency 
on the part of our dairy farmers to di¬ 
vorce production from reproduction. Rath¬ 
er than produce the bulk of the animals 
on their farms to replenish their Herds they 
have relied upon the dealer to replace 
such cows as it was necessary to remove 
for one cause or another, and. as a re¬ 
sult. contagious abortion or tuberculosis 
has been introduced, and these today are 
the two limiting factors in milk produc¬ 
tion. 
Profitahi.e Animals.—A successful 
dairyman must insist that every animal 
in his herd be a profitable producer of 
dairy products. There is difference of 
opinion as to the most reliable method of 
choosing between a producer and a non¬ 
producer. One dairyman may depend 
upon the breeding of a certain individual 
to be sponsor for her qualities as a pro¬ 
ducer of milk, while another will rely 
largely upon the individuality of the cow, 
and pay very little attention to ancestry 
or breeding. I share the belief that there 
is only one safe way of determining a 
profitable cow from an unprofitable one, 
and this involves placing of the cow in 
your dairy stable and determining by 
means of the milk scale and the Babcock 
tester just what she will do under the 
conditions of labor, feed and management 
that prevail on your own premises. Prof¬ 
its in milk production should not be 
based on what Sophie 16th of Hood Farm 
might produce under conditions that ob¬ 
tain on this farm, neither must we rely 
on records that are the result of seven-day 
tests. 
Average Cows. —The farmer’s profits 
in milk production must be secured from 
the sale of milk produced by the average 
run of cows that he maintains on the 
farm. Therefore, it is of minor impor¬ 
tance to know what a cow has done on 
another man’s farm if the present owner 
is not in a position to offer the same, or 
rather improve, the conditions on his own 
premises that will prompt the individual 
animal or group of animals to yield their 
products at a profit. It is generally ad¬ 
mitted that production with the individual 
dairy cow is based upon those forces that 
are ‘the result of constructive breeding 
and skilful feeding. It is a combination 
of these two characteristics that enables 
the cow to produce milk or butterfat at a 
profit. I am a great believer in inheri¬ 
tance. I know that feeding qualities are 
inherited as well as breeding qualities. I 
know that there is a very close relation¬ 
ship existing between constitutional vigor 
and production. It is neither the largest 
cow nor the smallest cow that in every 
instance can be relied upon to produce the 
greatest amount of milk. It is the indi¬ 
vidual that has inherited perforce the 
ability to consume a large amount of food 
and convert this into milk promptly and 
efficiently. „ , , .. 
Individuality. —We have been unable 
to determine exactly the relationship be¬ 
tween size and function. Some of us be¬ 
lieve that the small cow with peculiar con¬ 
formation will act as an agency for the 
production of milk with the greatest econ¬ 
omy. Others are equally insistent that 
the larger cow possessing large frame and 
greater capacity, is the more efficient 
unit. I am satisfied that we must rely 
upon the combination of qualities, and 
insist that they be developed in such a 
manner that they will co-ordinate, if we 
expect permanent and consistent produc¬ 
tion. We must rely on average produc¬ 
tion on the average farm. It is not the 
cow that will produce 30,000 pounds in a 
year that is going to make the farmers 
rich ; neither is it the cow that will pro¬ 
duce 25.000, or 20,000, or even 10.000 
pounds, but rather the individual that 
will produce persistently and consist- 
entlv from 7,000 to 8,000 or 0.000 
pounds of milk per year, and at the same 
time produce a calf; the result of mating 
with a purebred sire whose prepotency 
has enabled him to increase the produc¬ 
tion of his progeny. 
Purchase or Breeding. —There is a 
tendency to divorce production from re¬ 
production. The constructive successful 
breeder and dairyman must produce on 
his own farm the units of his herd. The 
man who relies upon the cow dealer to 
bring ahimals in from another State, the 
man who assembles a herd in a common 
way is the man who invites tuberculosis, 
contagious abortion and a number of 
other troubles that are holding the dairy 
industry, so far as milk production is 
concerned, down at the present moment. 
I am satisfied that it is constructive 
breeding based upon production and re¬ 
production that is going to put the dairy¬ 
man on his feet. I have, the greatest re¬ 
sites or boarders. He commenced to 
do some figuring for himself, and finally 
he determined that it would be to his 
advantage to dispose of all of the animals 
with the exception of the 20 cows that 
were working to his advantage, and found 
out that he could reduce his labor cost and 
his feed cost, and, at the same time, in¬ 
crease his profits by eliminating the un¬ 
profitable animals from his herd. The 
story of the cow-test association in any 
community is a repetition, in a measure, 
of the above incident. The farmer is en¬ 
abled to determine exactly what his cows 
are doing, and he can distinguish between 
the profitable ones and the unprofitable 
ones. True, the cow tester does nothing 
that the individual farmer could not do 
for himself, but the condition is revealed 
that in the past he has not weighed his 
milk nor tested it for butterfat, nor kept 
accurate records of feed consumed, and. 
therefore, did not know exactly what con¬ 
ditions obtained on his own premises. 
Constructive Work. —I hope that the 
dairymen are supporting their cow-test 
associations, for I have every reason to 
believe that much good will result from 
the constructive work that is being advo¬ 
cated and accomplished through the chan¬ 
nels of this agency. We must not be con¬ 
tent, however, with mere production. We 
must insist that the profitable dairy cow 
produce at least 8,000 lbs. of milk in a 
year, and within the same season produce 
a living calf. If we insist upon forcing 
more cows beyond their natural produc¬ 
tion we must not be disappointed in the 
instance of abortion or a condition evi¬ 
dencing a lack of vigor and vitality among 
the animals in our herd. We must not 
divorce production from reproduction, as 
both agencies must go hand in hand if 
we are to engage and continue in the dairy 
business. 
T'nderfed Young Stock.—A ssuming 
then that the importance of selecting pro¬ 
ducing cows has been emphasized, let us 
consider a few factors that are involved 
in the replenishing of our dairy herds. 
The crime of the dairy industry, and it 
might be applied quite as well to the live 
stock industry of this country, is the fact 
that the average live stock farmer under¬ 
feeds his young animals. He argues that, 
since feed is high in price and labor is 
expensive, it is economy to maintain ani¬ 
mals without supplying them with an 
abundance of food. Consequently he 
dwarfs the development of calves or his 
colts or his pigs, and when they are old 
enough in months to be producers it de¬ 
velops that they are not profitable pro¬ 
ducers of the particular product desired. 
It is true invariably in the raising of 
colts, it applies generally in the produc¬ 
tion of dairy calves or heifers, and it is 
not absent in instances where pork is 
produced on a fairly extensive scale. It 
is generally believed that an animal 
should gain one-half of its weight the first 
year; for instance, if it is desired to pro¬ 
duce at maturity a 1,600-lb. draft gelding, 
the owner should insist that the colt weigh 
at least 000 lbs. when he is a year old. 
If it is desired to produce a Holstein cow 
that will weigh when mature 1,400 or 
1,500 lbs., it is not unreasonable to ex¬ 
pect this heifer calf to weigh 700 or 800 
lbs. when one year old. It has been my 
observation that, unless this quality of 
size is obtained during the first year it is 
seldom attained at all. Surely there is 
nothing to be gained by underfeeding ani¬ 
mals intended for use on a dairy farm. 
If a heifer calf is worth raising at. all it is 
worth raising well, and, unless the ani¬ 
mat can be developed normally, it is false 
economy to rely upon some inherited qual¬ 
ity to perpetuate function that is not sup¬ 
ported or advanced by the proper stand¬ 
ards in feeding and nutrition. 
The cream of cream separator 
prosperity goes to De Laval users 
,There was never greater need than right now for the best 
separator, skimming cleanest, having greatest capacity, 
turning easiest, requiring least care, and producing the 
most perfect product. In all these respects the De Laval 
has no equal. Take nothing for granted, simply let it 
be demonstrated to you. See the local De Laval agent 
or address the nearest general office. 
THE DE LAVAL SEPARATOR COMPANY 
165 Broadway 29 East Madison Street 61 Beale Street 
NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO 
Live Stock Matters 
Conducted By Prof. F. C. Minkler 
