The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1901-05-30
UNPROFITABI COWS.
MAY WIPE OUT PROF, 8 OF MORE
VALUABLE ANIMALS.

Opinions OF Experts From the vari-
GUS Experimental Stations = Cows
Must Make Two Hundred Pounds of
Butter a Year to Pay.
In these days of close competition it
! is very necessary for dairyman to
know the producing nature of each in
4 dividual Of his herd. says D. w. May
4 In American Agriculturist. An unprof-
table COW. while causing loss, may
wipe out the profits Of more valuable
animal Some results of the herd rec
ords at various experiment stations
may prove Of value to the butter maker
by pointing out errors to be guarded
against. IS
AT the Ohio station experiments on
/ the production of milk show that with
the same food and under the same
! treatment one COW may transform into
| butter al amount of fat equivalent to
all that is found in the food. Another
may supplement this with fat previous
| ly stored up in the body and still an
other may convert into butter other
constituents of the food than its fat,
| sOtHSIS ulN Cit thS hot VI tuC
food into formation of body fat rath-
er than butter. II y
The. Connecticut station at Storrs ad
vises farmers to make close study of
the individual cows of their herds and
| to reject the Improbable ones. The
value of cows can be easily and cheap
| ly studied by the use Of the Babcock
milk test together with daily weigh
| ings of the milk, 81 The Pennsylvania
station suggests applying the feed test
to each animal. as well as the butter
test. and wedding out those animals
| that do not make a satisfactory return
| for the food consumed.
The Cornell station found that in gen.
eral the cows consuming the most food
produced both milk and fat at the low
est rate The Minnesota station states
| that the best cows, the annual butter
product of which exceeded 40 per cent
of the live weight, were small or medi-
UNI in size. although good ones were
found among the larger cows. At the
Vermont station usually the cows CIV
ling the most milk and butter made it
most cheaply, and those giving the least
milk or butter made it at the greatest
cost. AS a general rule the COWS max
| ing the most butter were the most eco
nomical producers The larger cows
which ranked well in gross amounts of
butter graded lower in most cases in
economy of production. while the small
er cows which stood near the head in
amount of butter made did not lose
rank in the matter of cheap manufac-
ture. .Z II.
The Indiana station calls attention to
the importance of the selection of cows
in relation to- the mammary gland.
While constitutional vigor and digest
i've capacity should always receive first
consideration. the breeder Of dairy cat
tie cannot afford to breed inferior I'D
ders any more than can breeder of
trotters afford to breed slow gated ami
mails. ~
At the New Jersey station the best
cow paid for her feed and $46.64 in adj
dition to skimmilk and manure, while
1854 represents the pay received for
the poorest cow. There is but little
profit derived from cow that does
not produce 200 pounds of butter per
year. and selection of animals for the
butter dairy is necessary. The Mime
sofa station found that the average an
nual cost of keeping a dairy cow is S3S.
A herd Of cows bred on dairy lines, well
fed and carefully handled, will produce
on an, average 6.4O0 pounds Of milk per
year at cost of 60 cents per 100
pounds and .121a cents per pound for
butter fat. They will produce on an
average 800 pounds of butter fat per
year, which is equivalent to 365 pounds
of butter per COW. The average cost Of
a pound of butter will be 1O1a cents.
The Ohio station states that when
fed ration composed of about one
fifth to onefourth grains and the re-
mainder coarse foods of good quality
our cows and those of several other
stations have produced an average of
about 80 pounds of butter fat to each
100 pounds of dry matter in the food
| besides making a small gain in live
weight. In general when this rate of
production Of butter fat has been ex-
ceeded there has been loss in weight,
and when the butter fat has fallen be-
low this rate there has been gain in
live weight. Exceptions to this gener-
al rule show that while some cows may
return handsome profit on their food
| others may be fed at an actual loss,
even when both butter fat and increase
of live weight are counted at full value.
At the Michigan station the cost Of but
ter varied with different cows from 5.5
to 16 cents per pound and the net profit
per year from S6.OS to $94.O5. The cows
giving the greatest net profit were the
three cows consuming the most feed.
| :. SiIage For Summer Feeding.