The Newtown bee., 1909-05-28
THE COST OF A QUART OF MILK.

THE COST OF A QUART OF MILK
 Edward Van Alstyre in the Rura
 New Yorker.
 la view of the fact that there is {
 bill before the Legislature for com
 mission to inva' tigate the milk situa
 tiou in New York StPte, and that il
 spite of increased iqtri3t as {,
 the manne ln which it is produced
 all requiring increased expense a
 we'll as high priced fsed ani labor
 the price offered by the Bordens fol
 the next siY months Is .05 lower thar
 year ago. 1 believe 1t is wise t'
 lock the situation sluareley in th'
 face and see what 1t actually costs tt
 pl oduee \ quart of milk under nor nal condTiJns. My own nerd art
 grade tiueruseys. Tns production
 last year was 1000 pounds a head
 below the normal, on account of tho prolonged drought, which cut dowr the yield in spite of supplemental feed. In addition we had three COWS go to pieces during the year. The total yield of the three did not equal what one of them would have done when they were right. There were also five two-year-old heifers with their first calves. All these causes reduced the yield as above. Yet these are things that must always he reckoned with. an giving facts, not a fancy sketch. Had the milk yield been greater, the cost of pro- duction per quart would, of course, have been less. My milk tests five per cent. l consider l could produce 10000 pounds of three per cent milk as easily as 1 could 6,0O0 pounds of five per cent. The former would not ordinarily bring as mucn, and would not furnish the kind of cream my trade requires. We carried during the year 25 head of milkers. The ac- count stands as follows:
 Purchased feed, $556 94 2G acres of pasture, %2O.NO SoiliEg crops, 1OO.Or 100 tons of silaga, 300.00 20 tons of hay, 10000
 Total for feed,\ S1,476.94
 A trife over $59 a head. To this must be added $125 as interest on 25 cows at $50 each at 10 per cent, and $365 for labor, making a grand total of 1,966.S4. Taking the total yield of milk, 62,500 quarts-2,500 per cow and dividing the total cost by that sum, we find the milk costs to produce .0314 a quart. The feed purchased is Just what paid out ill the 12 months. The 20 acres devoted to pasture were helped out by some supplemental feed, such as clover, oa:s, peas, corn, and not less than two pounds of grain daily, besides some after feed on the meadows. l figure that the pasture would have cut two tons of hay to the acre, or 70 tons total. This quality of hay mixed grasses would have sold this year for $10 ton. Taking off $2. a ton for harvesting and marketing leaves SS net, or $320, which 1 could have obtained from the pasture land had I devoted it to hay. It seems to me this is the only way to figure pasture. Let it be understood that there is probably no better in the state; in a normal year it will yield fully two tons of cured hay to the acre. On account of the drought, l have this year thrown in the after feed ~
 Most people talk about four acres to pasture a COW. The soiling crops are the only ones where 1 have to do any guessing. To get at the silage is easy. Eight months feeding, 35 lbs a day per animal, makes approxi- mately 100 tons for 25 head. On the basis of the price of hay this year l put silage at $3 a ton. A year ago it would have been $1 higher. Many figure silage at the cost of produc- tion. It cost me much less than S3 a ton to produce this year and put it in the silo. If I had the land that grew the corn in ear corn or potatoes with like amount of labor, l should have received at least $45 per acre. I know what hay the cows ate, and value it at what it would have sold for. The cost of gathering would be the same in either case. Or in other words, these products which were fed to the cows, had they been sold or their equivalent from the land as they otherwise would have been, would nave brought me in cash what have charged them at. l nave put the value of the COWS at $50 each. do not question that they would bring that under the hammer l re- gently sold one for $75 that had been milked for two months, and could take a like amount for a number more if were willing to let them go. The money invested in these cows would, if placed in the savings bank, bring four per cent interest; if at ] less certain investment, six per ;ent. In both I could be reasonably sure of getting the entire principal pack, and in neither case would any have-to be done Sundays or holidays. I must have not less than 10 per cent when invested in so pre- ,arious commodity as a lot of cows or I find it requires about five to ,eep my dairy good each year. l get 1t the labor in this way: Allowing 20 | minutes daily to a COW makes 292 .ys in a year, at $1.25 day is s365 year, or one mans wages. This would scarcely be enough for feeding aem and cleaning the stables; but