The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-09-12
VALUE OF DAIRY COW
Two Factors That Determine
Importance Of Animal.
~ MIX Producer Has Been 0tven
Right Kind and Amount Of Fosd
and Cared for lntellIoently
Records Will Show.

tBy O.. 1. MARTIN. Professor. OF Dairy.
ing. North Dakota Agricultural Col
There are two factors that deter.
mine the value OF q dairy COW. One
10 the individuality Of the COW and
the other 10 the individuality Of her
owner. Often the COW lacks In her
ability to produce milk economically
but quite 40 frequently her owner has
serious shortcomings. The way 70
check up both the COW and the man
il to use the scale, tester, and record
sheet. II the COW has been given the
right kind and amount Of feed and
cared for iftelligently the records
will show. They r an index alike
to the individuality Of GOV and man,
The way the COW IL fed and han.
died has q great deal to do with the
way she will produce. It 10 generally
conceded that one-third Of the cows
do not pay for their keep; the second.
one-third pay q small profit, while
upon the last one-third lies the burden
Of bringing up the average Of the
herd.
In order to get upon q working
basis let us figure that the poorest
cows average $500 pounds Of milk
annually. II this tests 4 per cent. Il
will give 100 pounds of butter-fAt. AZ
80. cents per pound for butter-fat the
cows will return $50 per year. The
second third of the cows will average
1000 pounds Of 4 per cent. milk
will give 100 pounds Of butter-fat. Az
80 cents this will amount to $4S per
year. The best one-third Of the cows
produce 5000 pounds of 4 per cent.
milk and yield $40 pounds Of butter
fat. At 30 cents per pound this will
amount to ST. per year.
The average farmer does not
charge against the GOV the cost Of
his labor MOI the interest on the
money invested in the animal. Usual
~ the value Of manure from one COW
for a year is estimated at $40. and
the value of q grade calf at ten days
old at about IS. and the skim milk a.
25 cents per hundred-about SIS
total Of $33. This will cover the cost.
Of labor and interest on the money in.
vested. In addition will be the cost
Of feed for the COW which will aver
age about $50 per year In the north.
west. This will bring the total cost
of maintaining q COW to 500 per year
It will be seen that the COWS pro-
ducing less than 100 pounds of but
ter-fat will hardly pay for their keei
since the 1O0-pound COWS return !
total of only $63. The average one
third producing 100 pounds Of butter
fat will return $S1 Or net SIS pei
head. This will amount to 8 pei
cent. on an Investment Of $225. The
best cows producing 240 pounds oi
butter-fat will return sos and net 81
yer pear, which is equal to 8 per
cent. interest on 5000.
The reason 10 many people say
dairying does not pay is because they
have a lot of 100-pound cows. These
cows bring down the average Of the
herd and reduce the net profits.
The factor that enters most strong.
ly into the problem Is the individual.
ity of the animal. II she Is not OF
the dairy tendencies, 1t matters lit.
tie how she is handled, 1t will be
dihicult to make her yield net re:
turns. On the other hand. the cows
must be cared for and fed intelligent
ly or the best dairy COW can not re-
turn net profits. The real value Of a
dairy COW Is the sum of her inherent
milk-making tendencies coupled with
the feeding intelligence Of her owner.