Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1916-06-29
A POSSIBILITY IN DAIRYING.
(From Rural Spirit.)

I v 'Nih nv a.
The high prices being paid il
some quarters for breeding stool
raises the old question, has The
purchaser paid too much" and, like
wise, what may COW actually be
worth on cold-blooded business
basis, where the element. Of love
Tor the breed and the like Is barred
out?"
A dairy COW IS worth in money
exactly what she will produce IN
butterfat, milk, cream and offspring.
In the beef type, it IS the quickness
with which she makes her growth,
her offspring, and so on. In these
days, when men know the breeding
of COWS as they do, what the an
cestry Of the COW has produced for
five or -en generations, and the
clement Of chance that enters in,
they do not often pay too much
money for an animal. More often
the breeder sells for less than his
offering is worth from a strict busi-
ness standpoint. There is, of course,
a limit to the value of any animal.
That limit depends upon number
of factors. In the dairy world, IT
is the production of the COW IN
milk, butter or cream, and offspring
The Rural Spirit has cited a great
many instances in the past as to
what a COW may actually become
worth in dollars. The news item
concerning the Jersey gold medal
COWS, published in another part Of
this issue, gives the record of Do
SORTS Park Lily. This COW started
her test December 8, 1914, and pro-
dueed IN the following year, 1928
pounds milk containing 1914 pounds
butterfat, carrying a calf 1sS days
during the test What is this COW
worth?
Geography is an element, We find,
that must also be considered. The
alfalfa hay that this COW ate cost
her owner s26 a ton; her grain "a
ton cost s39 q ton; and slage So a
ton. Location raised the price q
hay twice what 1T is worth around
Portland and five times what it
costs out where we raise alfalfa. But
the price received for the milk was
two and half times as much as
we pay in Portland, and the price
for her butterfat, about five times
what is received up N the interior
by producers. This good Jersey was
fortunate enough to be located near
New York City, where her owner
sells certified milk at 20 cents a
quart. A heavy producing COW pays
best anywhere and, very naturally,
more so where the margin OF posi-
bilities is greatest.
What IS a COW like Dosoris Park
LILY worth, that produces 1918
pounds of milk, testing 5.7a per
cent QullSIlGls U-Ah l1ol SSiAS a. ~
cents per quart? Her milk sold for
a total of s1,556.0S. 1t cost s1ss.92
to feed her during the year, leaving
a net amount over feed cost Of ST.
S57.16. The return ON her milk
alone represents 5 per cent interest
on an investment of Ns27 1854. The
owner values the heller calf that
this COW dropped during the test at
s., 900 and, beyond any question, he
can sell her for that price il he de-
sires. Putting the calf in at this
figure, makes this great cows pro-
duction pay 5 per cent interest on
;67,14S.S4. Counting the calf al
sold at that figure, there would, OF
course, be a depreciation charge
against the COW, for by and by she
viii go the way of all that which
has life.
Theorizing about the possibilities
of a COW of this kind and under
these conditions, brings out some
interesting phases. Counting the
income from the COW and the cat
at the figures given, three head
would give man a larger income
~ oo,oraSeOan and would