Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-10-20
A COW CENSUS.
Farmers. Keep the Best Cows, OF Keep
Nome at All.


Farmers. Keep the Rest Cows, or Keep
Nome at All.
Every MAJ Of sense knows that the
average farm COW brings little profit,
The average production of the average
COW in Wisconsin. Illinois, New York
and other of the best dairy states is only
about 5000 pounds Of milk Il year. Part.
ly this is the fault of the COW and partly
the fault Of the owner. OF course TN.
owner must be held responsible for tn,
TACT. for he alone can institute any i'm.
provement. Three thousand pounds OF
milk are equivalent to 1875 pounds OF
butter, provided it be good milk. Tina,
amount Of butter, as the ordinary farm.
er makes it and sells it. brings about 1t
cents a pound. So you can see that the
partnership between the ordinary farmer
and the average COW brings in only abou,
SEQ q year gross.
A thorough "cow census" instituted in
the town Of Ellisburg. n. V, six years
ago by Hoarl's Dairyman revealed the
fact that there We're a large number of
herds Of COWS in that old dairy town
that did not earn above $50 per COW for
the year. The owners of these cows felt
this fact in their fattened pocketbooks,
but they did not have enterprise sufficient
to set squarely about the work of i'm
provement. When the .cow census
was taken, it turned a ray of light into
such an improbable way Of doing bust
ness. and manifest Improvement in the
character of the cows has since taken
place.
In bulletin 80 Of the Cornell expert
ment station is given a bit of history
that should be read and studied long
and well by every farmer who earnestly
desires good profit in keeping cows. The
bulletin is devoted to the problem of
the cost of milk production, but the
point we are after here is to bring out
the fact there shown, which shall serve
as an answer TO the question at the head
OF this article. The Cornell herd during
the time Of the experiment, beginning
Jan. 10, 1892. and ending Jan. II,
1893, consisted of 20 cows. This herd
had been developed from the ordinary
cows of the neighborhood by Professor
Roberts since 1915. His method had
been the simple and effective one of
using only thoroughbred bulls of dairy
breeds and a rigid selection of the best
heifer calves. The first COWS in 1874
produced but little more than 5000
pounds of milk. The descendants of
these same COWS produced in 1892 more
than 1000 pounds per cow. Any man
can see that the profit Of cow keeping is
greatly increased by the use Of a little
good dairy sense.
Professor Roberts has done nothing
that the most ordinary farmer cannot
do. Any man in these days can produce
a good thoroughbred sire of any of the
four leading dairy breeds, the Ayr
shires, the Holsteins, the Guernseys or
the Jerseys. Good, we'll bred male
calves a be bought for a low price.
He can keep right along in the same
road, holding steadily to the same breed
and selecting the best heifers. There is
nothing mysterious Or difficult about
this, and any man ought to know that it
is not one-half as expensive as the keep
ing of poor cows. Every farmer has the
road open before him for better profit in
COWS if he will but enter it. It means
simply the use of a little more dairy in
telligence in the way of better breeding
and better feeding and care. The profits
Of keeping say 10 COWS, giving each 1000
pounds of milk. over that of keeping %
Of their ~randmothers producing the
same a,~-.t of milk, tells the story be-
yond cavil.-Chicago Inter Ocean.