The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-05-13
TO INCREASE MILK PRODUCTION.
Part That May Be Played by Accurate
" Kept Test Records.

In the pooling of milk and handling
OF a milk herd the yield Of any one COW
is Immediately lost sight OF, writes J.
A. Macdonald Of Ottawa, Ont, IN the
New York Tribune Farmer. There Is
no permanent, tangible or visible bulk
or weight" according to ME- Whitley,
who has charge of this work in Canada.
Poured into the weigh can, the milk OF
one cow loses its identity in the general
total. Being fluid, it is indistinguish-
able by its shape, size or color, and
thus is radically different from other
farm products-the fat steer, the plump
chicken, luscious berries or ripe grain.
The yield of the individual cow must
be noted and recorded at the moment
Of her milking; then at the end OF the
season intelligent action can be taken In
selection Thus will be seen the value
OF records; they are indisputable; they
are simply kept, cost only a tritie, and
their value increases if they are continu-
Gus Their use must appeal 10 every
dairyman as being of immense and i'm
mediate benefit.
II would be profitable to increase the
total production Of milk in this country
by at least $30,000,000. We will never
see that increase or anything approach
ing it from the increased value of gal
lon Of our product, for that is the end
OF the business over which the pro-
Queer has very little control; but he has
full control over his end of the bus.
mess, and it is high time that those
who are engaged in the production OF
milk should pay more attention to ques-
tions over which they have absolute
control and not concern themselves with
other matters. Mr.. Grisdale, the wise,
prudent and progressive director of the
Canadian experimental farms, would 60
further. He believes il is quite possible
with the same herd to double our prod
ucts. He bases this statement on OBJ
servation from the Pacific coasts to the
Atlantic, over which he has to travel.
A young man in Ontario started in
with a herd whose return was 1000
pounds year per COW. He kept his
records, weeded out the worst cows,
and the result was that at the end of
FIVE years the herd yielded over 5000
pounds a COW, and there is nothing to
prevent any farmer from doing the
same. If one keeps records only once
in ten days, he win effect tremendous
increase, because he cannot help pay
ing attention to the care and feeding
Of his cows. OF course, with this in
crease one must feed better. You can
not get 5000 pounds of milk with the
same feed required to produce 1000
pounds; so, you see, it is not the Sc
lection of the COWS alone, but it is also
tho feed you are giving them. The
great trouble with dairy farmers is the
lack OF care they give their cows.
think with all dairy farmers the
great need is the Improvement of their
herds, and that improvement can be
be brought about by no better means
than keeping records. In fact, it is
the only absolutely certain way of i'm
proving herd. 1t is encouraging to see
that not only the average farmer, but
those farmers who think they are well
up in the business, are going into il more
and more. ] believe this testing bus
mess will bring tremendous awak-
| ening in dairy operations. To deter
mine the value of a COW to dairy
man, three questions must be asked and
answered: |. How much milk does she
give? . How much fat does that milk
contain? 3. What does it cost to pro.
duce her milk? Such questions can read.
lily be answered if simple record sys'
tenn is adopted