merican Ag:riculturist, January 13, 1923 
he Kind of Cow That Sells 
Current Experiences on a Dairy Farm — H. E. Babcock 
N owadays buyers of dairy cows, 
whether of grades or purebreds, 
seem to be looking for size and type. 
In fact, many seem to be carrying the 
search for the straight top line and the 
well balanced udder so far that they 
lose sight of other characteristics more 
important from a production point of 
view. One prominent breeder of pure¬ 
bred Holsteins rather sarcastically 
summed this up when he said that by 
the time sale committees got through 
picking animals from his herd for State 
sales he wouldn’t have any poor pro¬ 
ducers left. 
While the pendulum may have swung 
too far, no real dairyman regrets 
the desire on the 
part of buyers for 
a better looking as 
well as a good pro¬ 
ducing dairy cow. 
As we have ob¬ 
served the really 
skillful buyers se¬ 
lect animals from 
our herds we have 
noticed that they 
were willing to pay 
good money for 
animals which pos¬ 
sess these quali¬ 
fications : First, a 
cow large for the 
breed; second a 
cow with a straight 
topline and a well- 
balanced udder; 
next a cow with 
good rnilk and ud¬ 
der vein development. Very few feel 
of the cow’s hide—the few that do are 
the experts. 
I have heard of a prominent Hol¬ 
stein breeder, one of the pioneers, who 
was blind, yet who was a master judge 
of a cow. I believe it would be better 
for all of us if we abandoned the use 
of our eyesight occasionally and de¬ 
pended more on our finger tips. Some 
day spend a little time to note the 
difference in the feel of the hides of 
your good and poor cows. Then watch 
the really skillful buyer operate the 
next time he looks over your string of 
milkers. _ 
TAKING THE INVENTORY 
Sometimes when I have been asked 
if we would make any money on the 
farm I have replied: “It al) depends 
on how optimistic we feel when we 
inventory.’! And though said in 
jest, there is a world of truth in that 
answer. 
On a dairy farm there is sometimes 
more money invested in cattle than in 
the farm itself. Even with grade cattle 
values fluctuate considerably and are 
largely dependent on the condition of 
the animals, the price of milk, and the 
financial state of dairymen. When 
purebreds are considered—particularly 
on farms where advanced registry test¬ 
ing is carried on—the correct deter¬ 
mination of values at inventory time 
becomes a real problem. 
In business the usual procedure is to 
inventory at cost or market, whichever 
may be lower. An attempt to apply 
this principle to valuing cattle at once 
brings up the question, what is the 
market? 
Public Auction Prices a Guide 
For dairy cattle, grades or purebreds, 
there is probably no better gauge of 
values than the prices paid at public 
auction. Incidentally, perhaps here is 
the real reason why farmers always go 
to an auction. At least it will make a 
good reason to tell your wife the next 
time you go. 
At the public auction, provided it is 
on the square, men register their col¬ 
lective judgment as to the worth of an 
animal. By selecting typical animals as 
to age, condition, size, and quality, and 
by noting what they bring, a man can 
get a pretty good idea of the value of 
similar animals he may own. Auction 
prices should always be discounted from 
five to fifteen per cent, however, because 
it usually costs that much to advertise 
and sell the animals. 
Another good gauge of prices is the 
offers that buyers make for animals. 
Usually, however, trade is not active 
enough to draw much information from 
How Much is This Cow Worth? 
Born 1915, sound; fresh October 1, 
1922; milking 60 lbs. a day; bred 
again. Does Mr. Babcock inventory 
her correctly? 
this source and in a large herd there 
are always some dairy animals which 
are unsalable as such and that at a 
given time are only worth beef prices 
but which, if carried along, will recover 
their dairy value. Taken all in all the 
question is a complex one. 
Practical Examples of Values 
In an endeavor to get a correct in¬ 
ventory this year I have selected typical 
animals ip our herds and traced back 
our values for the past two years. Here 
are the way the figures look: 
Flossie Lehigh, purebred Guernsey, 
born 1911. 1921 value $250, 1922 value 
$225, 1923 value $200. This cow a 
good producer and 
a steady breeder is 
getting old. We 
would not sell her 
for $200, but on 
the other hand few 
men would buy her 
for that figure. 
May, grade 
Guernsey, borh 
1915. 1921 value 
$150, 1922 value 
This cow, a nice 
$100, sold $150. 
typy large cow 
which would give 
50 lbs. a day was 
just going dry 
when inventoried 
Jan. 1, 1922. 
Flossie of Mead- 
owbrook, purebred 
Guernsey, born 
1915, cost 1921, $275; 1922, $200; 1923, 
$35. A number of ailments have pre¬ 
vented this cow ever doing anything 
for us. She may come through, but 
to-day we are only safe in inventorying 
her at beef value. 
Ma'i'y, grade Holstein, born 1915; 
1922, $150 (cost); sold for $225. An 
example of a top-notcher, well bought, 
correctly inventoried, and well sold. 
Komdyke Sadie Pietje, purebred 
Holstein, born 1919; bought 1921, $175; 
inventoried 1922, $175; 1923, $175. 
This cow is growing better, but the 
market on purebred Holsteins of her 
class is weak, hence we shall make no 
increase in value. 
Dutchess, grade Holstein, born 1915; 
bought 1922, $150; inventoried 1923, 
$100. This is the cow shown in the 
picture. She is sound, freshened Octo¬ 
ber 1, is milking 60 lbs. a day. Is our 
inventory value correct? 
Our Conclusions as to Values 
Taking our herds as a whole, we will 
value about as follows this year: Pure¬ 
bred Guernsey cows, four to ten years 
old, of good size and type, will average 
about $250; good grade Guernseys 
$150. Purebred Holsteins, four to 
eight years old, which will milk 12,000 
lbs. a year or better, we will value at 
$200; grades of the same quality $100 
to $150. A few smaller grade Holsteins 
which we bought this fall at auction 
for an average of $95 apiece, we shall 
put at $75 each. 
Where we are doing advanced regis¬ 
try testing we shall make no recogni¬ 
tion of the increased values that may 
be due to records. We have yet to 
realize on such values, and bitter ex¬ 
perience has taught us that there is 
many a slip between the record and 
the sale check. 
In herds where there is tuberculosis 
we should value the cows at the State 
indemnity figures plus estimated car¬ 
cass values. We recognize that these 
estimates are conservative, but we don’t 
like to “kid” ourselves into making 
money; we had much rather earn the 
cash. -- 
Retained Afterbirth—Often follows 
underfeeding. In well-fed cows it is 
usually an indication of diseased geni¬ 
tal organs. It is often associated with 
contagious abortion. Give a warm bran 
mash a couple of hours after calving, 
keep the cow warm and give her a 
physic if the afterbirth does not come 
away readily. If it does not come away 
in about six hours, attach a two-pound 
weight to it. If, after forty-eight 
hours, it is still retained, it should be 
taken away at once by an experienced 
person. 
3X 
These Threejmade 
Mr. il. R. Stevens, of Bowman- 
ville, Ont., with the assistance of 
a De Laval Milker, just recently 
made a world’s record with his 
purebred Holstein cow Orndyke 
Pietertje Korndyke, who produced 
1,122.5 lbs. of butter and 24,119 
lbs. of miHc in 306 days. During 
the entire period she was milked 
with a De Laval Milker. Mr. 
Stevens says: 
“While Orndyke is a wonderful 
animal and would make a splendid 
showing by hand milking, I can 
truthfully assert that the use of 
the De Laval Milker throughout 
this test has made it possible for 
her to show this wonderful pro¬ 
duction. I have been using the 
De Laval Milker exclusively for 
two years.” 
Mr. Stevens also has other cham¬ 
pions in his remarkable herd, most 
notable of which are Ormsby Jane, 
junior two-year-old milk cham¬ 
pion of Canada, and Jane DeKol 
of Olen Bae, senior , two-year-old 
milk champion of Canada, both of 
which have never been milked in 
any other way but with a De Laval 
Milker. Mr. Stevens says: 
a Mbrld s Record 
“I am very proud and naturally 
much gratified over my success in 
producing these champion animals, 
but it is only right that I should 
give the De Laval Milking Ma¬ 
chine its full dues as the most Im¬ 
portant agency in the develop¬ 
ment of these records. These 
facts are all beyond question and 
should settle the matter ' con¬ 
clusively for those intelligent 
dairymen who are asking the ques¬ 
tion as to whether the De Laval 
Milking Machine will pay them.” 
Thousands of De Laval Milker 
users in all parts of the country 
and with all breeds of dairy cattle 
will subscribe to Mr. Stevens’ 
statements, many of whom have 
also made splendid records. 
You may not be interested in 
making production records but you 
certainly want to get the most 
milk from your cows, in the clean¬ 
est condition, at the least expense, 
and you can do this with a 
De Laval better than in any other 
way. Sold on easy terms so that 
it will pay for itself while you are 
using it. 
Send for complete information 
The De Laval Separator Company 
NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO 
165 Broadway 29 E. Madisoo St. 61 Beale St. 
fRiNEI 
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Box 120 NORWICH, N. Y. 
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