The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1890-04-17
4 DairyuSn's Startling Figures ror the
Consumer to Ponder On.

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Oscar w. Mapes had everything down
IN black and white. Mr.. Mapes lives
about four miles from this place on a
farm which enables him to keep body
and soul together, and, with the help
OF his wife and two nearly grown
sons, to support family consisting OF
a wife and three sons, the youngest
boy being just old enough to mind a
calf. The writer called on Mr.. Mapes
recently and had a talk with him.
uhe farm consists of seventy acres of
good Orange county land, and the
dairy consists of fifteen cows.
What are your cows worth7s Mr..
Mapes was asked
Il should say about $40 apiece, he
replied.
What is the average annual yield
of mike" 4
For a COW past years old, 5000
quarts"
What does it cost you to feed a
COW a year?"
Just for the feed alone it costs me
$40 if the cow is dry in summer, $45 if
she's dry in winter"
"How many months in the year are
NOQI COWS ia
On an average, ten months"
I'm estimating the cost of keeping a
COW, what price do you allow for hay
and grain2'
For hay $40 ton. for grain, SIS a
ton"
What kind of grain do you nses"
Il feed mixture of wheat bran,
dried brewers grains, dried glucose
meal and hominy meal, equal parts by
weight, giving each cow thirteen
pounds day-six and one half pounds
in the morning, six and one-half at
night. That's for the winter. In the
summer they get half that much.
They get pasturage about five months
in the year, worth at the market price
$3.50 month";
"Now, Mr.. Mapes, We'll do a little
figuring. The average monthly price
of milk in 1889 was 2 $500 cents.
The yield OF one of your COWS at that
price would bring in ST. 40. Now for
the outgo. The cows feed cost you
$46.5O. You had to hire some one to
look after her, milk her, and get her
milk to the station. What did that
cost your
"Well, one man can look after
twenty cows, and you have to pay
him $50 q month. He must have
somebody help him milk, say three
hours a day. That would be 81 a
month more, making $37. EST
mate that for seven months in the
year. For the other five months make
it $22 month, as the wages of the first
man during that time would be only
SIS"
THAT makes 1869 year for labor. !"
Divide it by twenty to get the cost
of tending to one cow"
''Just 1885 cow"
''All right. That's what I make it.
Now. as to getting the milk to the sta
ton. | calculate that it costs me Just
$685. COW, and for drawing the feed
from the station to the barn. why,
that's So more for each cow"
Then there are the cans"
"Oh, yes. Cans cost So apiece, and
you've got to have at least one can to
the COW. You'd get along better with
a can and half, which makes 81. so
to the COW. A can lasts four or five
years, so call the expense 81 a year"
Then there's the interest on the
cost of the cow"
eyes. At 6 per cent, that would be
$2.4o."
"And what of the depreciation of
the COVE You must be buying new
cows all the time and selling the old
ones that are worn out"
Certainly. I estimate that at about
81 year"
"You lose a part of each cows yield
by bad debts. How much is that?'
II lose very little, because am very
careful whom I sell to. In the last
eighteen years I've lost only $3.50 in
that way"
''Well, all the expenses foot up ex-
actly SIS"
Take that from the money the milk
have the amount that l cleared on
each of my COWS last year"
Cant do it, Mr.. Mapes. The milk
fetched only ST. 40, which makes you
out loser to the extent of sixty cents
on each COW, or So on the herd. l
don't see how your dairy can pay you
at those figures. But hold on, Mr.
Mapes, what about the calves9 Doesn't
each COW drop a calf every year2"
''Of course. / thought there was
something left out. sell the calf for
50. That makes the difference.
eyes. That makes each COW carp
the amazing sum of 81. 40 year. Yoar
herd brings you in SOL"
'"That's about it."
''How on earth can you support a
family on $21 a year9"
ooh, l don't support the family on
the dairy. / gave that up five years
ago and started hen farm and an
orchard. advise all other milk pro-
ducers to do the same thing"
Mr. Mapes is one of the most eco
nomical of dairymen, and saves where
many farmers would lose. If such a
man could make only $21 in a year out
of dairy of fifteen cows, what is to
become Of the average farmer, whose
methods are slipshod2 1t is but fair to
say, however, that Mr.. Mapes gets
more for his milk than the average
farmer. He sells all his produce in
Middletown. The estimate given here
with, the $,Y7.40 for 5000 quarts of
will Sc local ~, Tho oof,,ol w h olaco 10