The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-05-07
SMALL PROFIT IN COWS.
EXPERIMENTS SHOW A SLIGHT MAR
I GIN IN DAIRY FARMING.
Profitable Returns Are Generally so
Meager That Great Care Should Be
Used in Selecting Only the Best AMI
mals-Success Depends on Manure.


mals-Success Depends on Manure.
The need of better cows for the dairy is
coming to be very generally appreciated.
The dairy commissioner of Iowa is re-
ported as saying that the average COW in
that state gives but 8, - pounds of milk
annually, while good ones yield from !, 900
to 6,000 pounds. The director of the Yer
mont station states that the average yield
per COW in that state is only about $50
pounds of butter per annum, while there
are thirty diaries in the state that average
over 800 pounds per cow.
The director of the New York station
says: New York has 800 900 mich cows,
probably producing, on an average, less
than 5000 pounds of milk per year, and the
annual average butter product per COW for
the state is undoubtedly less than 100
pounds. This should not be, when there
are whole herds averaging 300, and some
400, pounds of butter per year for each
COW. Animals producing these by no
means phenomenal yields are not confined
to any particular breed, and are often
grades of our SO called native or no breed
animals. Proper selection, systematic
breeding and judicious feeding have pro-
duced these profitable animals and herds"
The difference in the milk producing
qualities of different cows is brought out
very clearly by series Of experiments
conducted at the Massachusetts, State sta
ton, of which Professor c. A. Goessmann
| is director They are especially interesting,
| because the cows and their feed and care
were such as are found ON the better farms
of Massachusetts, and the results, OBJ
tanned with the appliances of we'll
ouy,iv nod opyr cto 110rrv
curate and full detail the elements of &C
tual profit and loss as they could not be
found in ordinary farm experience.
EXPERIMENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS
These experiments have been made with
twelve cows, and have continued over five
years. Grade Jersey, Ayrshire, Devon,
Durham and Dutch and native cows were
used. They were secured for the expert
ments a few days after calving, and fed
until the daily yield fell below five or six
quarts, when they were sold to the butch
er. The length of the feeding period-i. e.,
duration of the experiment with each COW
varied from 261 to 500 days. Hay, fodder,
corn. corn silage, green crops. roots and
cornmeal, wheat, bran and other grain
were used.
The daily ration per head consisted of
eighteen to twenty pounds of dry fodder,
or its equivalent of green fodder, and |
from 81 to ga pounds of grain. Careful |
accounts have been kept of the history of |
each COW, including breed, age, number of
calves, length of feeding period, amounts |
and kinds of fodder, yield of milk, chem
ical composition Of feed, milk and manure, |
cost of COW and feed and values of milk |
and manure.
Jc q Ifr1lo % h
financial record of the cows The milk |
was reckoned at the price paid for it at the |
neighboring creameries. The value of the
manure produced is calculated by assum-
ing that of the total amount of food 20
per cent. would be sold with the milk and
the remaining SOper cent. saved as manure.
AS farmers in the region buy CONNER
cial fertilizers for the salVtf their nitro
gen, phosphoric acid and potash, it was as
sumed that these same ingredients would |
be worth about as much pound for pound,
in the manure as in the better class of fer
tiiizers, and accordingly the value of the
manure was computed by taking the nitro
gen as worth 1G1s cents, phosphoric acid
six cents, and potash 4 cents, per pound.
The return e1r feed consumed represents
what the feeder receives for labor, housing
OF cattle, interest of capital invested, risk
of loss of animals, etc.
RESULTS IN FIGURES.
The most profitable COW was bought for
$50, fed 5S4 days and then sold for S2S,
making her actual cost S32, and the feed
cost S135.O5, so that the total cash outlay
was s167.05. The milk brought S2O3. 81 at
the creamery, and the manure was estimat-
ed to be worth 1858, making the total
value received for feed consumed, $3.50. 80.
Subtracting the total cash outlay of S167, O5
from this, there remains $685. as net re-
turn for feed consumed. Deducting the
value of the manure, the re-
mainder return in excess of estimated
value Of manure is S36. 30
In the average for the twelve cows, the
net return was S50.43, and the return in
excess of the estimated value of the man
IRE only s15.13. With the least profitable
COW, the cash outlay for COW and feed ex-
ceeded the value of the milk and manure
by 1897; in other words, the net return for
feed consumed was So 81 less than nothing
SuDtracting the value of the manure, the
total loss was S34.25; that is to say, allow
ing for the value of the manure the re-
suits with the twelve cows varied from a
gain of 500 to a loss of s.. 81, or, if the |
value Of the manure be left out of &C.
count, from gain Of $685. to loss Of
s34 %
1t is noticeable that the profit or loss did
not depend upon either the breed or the
length of the feeding period. The most
COW, and the least profitable but
one, were both of the same breed. OF the
Two most profitable cows, one was fed for
'S4 days and the other for only 27S days
Two things, then, are brought out very
clearly by these experiments. One is that
n such localities as this the value of the
manure goes far to decide the profit in
eeding dairy cattle. Another is that cows J
which would ordinarily pass for good ones ,
nay differ widely in product.
To the practical dairyman these expert ,
nents teach clearly the difference between | I
lows which are profitable and those which ]
ire not and the Importance of selecting {
he best cows for his dairy and getting rid $
II the poor ones In larger sense they '
Illustrate 10 every farmer the Importance J
II knowing accurately the condition of his
business. Upon this its success or failure I
argely depends.-Farmers' Bulletin No.
> United States Department of Agricult- 5
Ire :
" Ensh