Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-08-29
Cow Profit.

IL is true tnat very large per
cent OF our dairy COWS are absolute
ly pnproductive, never paying their
own expenses. Is it not far better
to Keep fifteen COWS, all, of which are
liberal producers, than to add to this
number another fifteen that are not
self-supporting? The second fifteen
are kept up by the profit of the first
fifteen, but how is the owner to be
kept up? This very difficulty with
which we are so heavily burdened
must be removed before dairy can
be made profitable, whether north
or south. But how are we going to
Judge which animals are profitable
and which are Improbable? By the
milk sheet and pair of milk scales.
AT the end of each month then we
can tell exactly how much milk each
cow in the herd has produced and
hence how much money she has
made. From this amount the ex-
pense of keeping her could bo de-
Quoted and the remainder credited
to her account as profit for the
month.
If butter is sold instead of milk,
the Babcock test should be made
about the middle of the month to
determine the amount of butter fat
each COW produces. and in this way
we calculate the amo.nt which she
brings in each month. This is the
only reliable way of Judging dairy
cows, and the extra work required
to keep these records will pay better
than any other money expended in
the dairy.
In increasing our herds or in re-
placing those that have been culled
out, the average productiveness is
often kept down by our strong in
clination to buy cheap cows instead
of good ones. For example, a COW
that will give on an average, a gal
Ion of milk the year round, will
cost, we will say, $50; one that will
give one and half gallons will cost
$50; and one that will give two
gallons will cost 500. We know
that the expense Of keeping each OF
these three cows is practically the
same, and for the purpose of illus
trating this point we will say that it
costs S4l.2O to keep each year.
We find, therefore, that if the milk
tests 40 per cent butter fat, the one
gallon COW will produce 1913
pounds of butter, which at % cents
per pound will bring S4l.20. The
one gallon COW, therefore, pays ex-
penses exactly, but not one cent in
terest on the investment. The one
and a half gallon cow, which cost
$50 to begin with. makes profit Of
$2O.6o year, while the 500 COW
giving two gallons per day, makes a
profit of S4l.20 a year Therefore,
which would you prefer to do? In
vest 500 in one COW that will pro-
duce a profit of S4l.6O year. or in
vest 800 in three cows all of which
will not produce one cent profit in
year? This is an illustration OF
the exact condition that exists in
many of our herds today, and until
we dispose of those $50 boarders
we can never make the dairy pay, no
matter how we feed them.
Out of this practice arises another
very serious difficulty, which is that
every calf we keep from the un.
profitable COW is, as rule unpro6t.
able also. With the proper breed.
ing, selection, and care, any hero
should improve with every genera
ton, and if it is not improvidg you
rest assured that it is going back
Therefore, the question of selection
especially must not be overlooked
for there is no question confronting
the dalryman that is of such vita
importance.
Above all things, keep behint
your herd with tho milk scales anc
with the milk sheets; and no dairy
man should be satisfied until hi
herd will produce at least an aver
age per COW Of a pound Of butter o
two gallons of milk for every day i,
the year. -B. II. Rawl, United State
Department of Agriculture. Farm
ers Tribune.