Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1912-10-01
Which Is Really The Best Cow ?
NOT NECESSARILY THE ONE THAT YIELDS
THE MOST MILK IN AYEAR.
u. A. Macdonald. in Tribune Fsrmer.)

This question hinges on the number OF
days the COW WAS giving milk, for, while
1t 10 important for cow to have long
milking season, there is no advantage 10
putting In the time milking her an extra
month or two II she does not give sufh.
cient milk to pay for the labor.
Few farmers have any idea ut al Of
what they are making. The farmer In
this way differs from the manufacturer
or other business man, who spends large
sums to install an elaborate system Of
cost accounts; few farmers can even tell
the number Of pounds OF milk which
each COW In the herd yields. It is the
general opinion that the COW that gives
the largest quantity Of milk In year ID
the best cow. But is she? There 10 con-
siderable difference in the profits from
the COW that gives six thousand pounds
of milk In eight months and the COW
that takes eleven or twelve months to
produce the same amount Of milk. Three
or four months milking Is saved, and also
considerable feed.
Business Methods sApplied.-Mr. Stock
house bad been In mercantile life and he
brought the business methods Of the city
store to the dairy in the country. he at
once saw that the really profitable dairy
COW was largely q matter of guess, not
withstanding the fact that her product
was known daily and yearly. So he de-
cided on his own account to learn what
his COWS really were doing from the dol
lars and cents point of view.
The herd Ia at present composed OF
twelve COWS, which gave total OF 60, ,96l
pounds of milk for the season, or an av-
erage Of $3.50 pounds OF milk COW.
The highest yield was 6,417 pounds,
while the lowest was 4,916 pounds. 1t
is interesting to note the difference In the
number of days that each cow was In
milk, for, while it is important for COW
to have long'milking period, there is
no advantage in putting In the time
milking her an extra month IL she does
not give sufficient milk 10 that month to
nav for the labor.
A New Phase Of the Question.-The
COW with the highest record was milking
25e days, q little more than eight months,
while the second highest cow, only Is
pounds down the scale, took 1926 days to
produce the milk; so 1t was necessary to
milk thu second COW 80 dags-two
mo .ths-longer than the first In order to
produce 65 pounds less milk, which
makes hec more expensive COW than
would appear at first sight. The fact is
this COW, though second in quantity OF
milk, was not really second In aotua!
profits. This is surely q new phase OF
the question.
Ratings Should be Changed.-In fg-
uring on cost of milking . COW that
comes some distance down the list
should be second in profit, as she pro-
duced only 243 pounds less milk than the
second best, but took SS days, or three
months, less time to produce 1t. Now,
no man can afford to milk COW 81 days
for 243 pounds of milk; so this COW,
though rated much lower, Is really the
second best COW In the, herd; and, on ac-
count of having been MIXED IL days
! less,time than the first grade COW, it is
questionable If she is not the most profit
able COW In the lot, Notwithstanding the
fact that she produced some 800 pounds
less milk th.n the premier COW.
For the same reason the cow with the
lowest record, 1915 pounds Of milk,
should really be higher up In the profit
list, as she took only PA days, just eight
months, to produce 1t. Another COW
that produced only IA pounds more than
the lowest placed COW took "a days long.
or to produce the IA pounds of milk and
Is surely much less profitable COW, as
q farmer cannot afford to milk q COW "a
days for IA pounds Of milk, not to men
ton the difference In the cost OF feeding
q milking COW and dry COW.
Good Mixers are Expensive.-The
above are points seldom taken into con-
sideration, as dairymen are too much In
the habit Of judging Q COW by the num-
Der of pounds of milk produced, without
considering the number OF times . man
has to be paid to sit down and milk the
COW. Mixers that are good mixers are
high priced men, and it does not pay to
have them working for you eleven
months when the same work may be ac-
complished in eight months.
have never noticed that the expert
mental farms have taken up this phase
of the question. True, In their dairy
reports they give the quantity OF milk
Welded by each COW and the cost OF keep,
and we are allowed to draw our own con-
cusions as to the best COW; but nothing
is ever said about the labor question.
Dairy COWS cannot be fed and MIXED for
nothing. On good dairy farm the
herdsmen and milkers must necessarily
be good, high priced men, and this labor
question is quite an item and should not
be left unconsidered.
Persistent Mixers May Not be Profit
able.-This COW that took thirty-four
days to yield fourteen pounds of milk
more than her competitor will be gener-
ally rated as the better cow, because she
gave bigger yield Of milk. Few peo-
Die will stop to consider the cost OF milk
ing that COW thirty-four days, the cost
of some extra feeding, the cost OF manip..
ulating her milk for market, etc., and
all this work going on thirty-four days
for fourteen pounds Of milk.
It has been the custom OF dairy writ
ers to urge on their readers the impor-
tance of persistent milking. Persistent
milking is all right, so long as 1t can be
made profitable. The persistent mixer
is, after all, very much OF fake. so
long as the COW continues to milk ton
or eleven months in the year, and by her
slow yielding persistency manages 70
pile up few pounds more milk than net
mate which is not so persistent, she 10
considered the better COW. But 10 she Z
Is not the COW that milks say, only eight
months and yields within fraction OF
the eleven months mixer, the better
cow By all odds she 10. This question
In we'll worth consideration.