The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-10-14
Writer Discusses Pleasure
and Pain of Suburban
Arrangement.
MILK REPAYS SORROW
But Then There Is Problem
Of Buying Feed With
in Reason.

1.-The man have in mind," writes l..
l.. d. Seymour, IN "The Countryside"
lis neither n farmer nor ono Of that !
army that was raised on the farm and !,
misses the good old life.' . He Is an :
average Subirbanite or resident Of a ,
village. with q little land ut his dis
p0sal. who has won fair success with |
n garden and, perhaps. with chickens. ,
and who thinks Of q COW as further |
means whereby he can respond to the |
nations call for food conservation and |
cconomy-in with benefit to |
himself and his family"
And Mr.. seymour proceeds to recount !
some Of the problems and Inducements: |
THE very first problem that con- |
fronts him is whether or not his idea
is u sound one. Should he try to keep
a COW? What will it involve, what will
It cost, what may he gain--or loosely
the venture? I should list four essen
tial factors or conditions without which
It would probably he imuracticaplc, ur
at least purely luxurious, to keep ono
COW.
Good Partners Needed.
"Ffrst, there should be at least an
acre Of grass land available. and three
or four If possible; these. of course,
| may just as well be rented as owned.
Second. there must be adequate and
suitable shelter, as described below; at
all events q building that admits Of
modification and adaptation. Third,
| there must be assured constant. regu-.
lar. intelligent care. The car may go
unwashed. the garden uncultivated, the
dog and horse unfed for a time without
| serious injury: but If milking time
comes round and the COW is not all
| tended to, serious. even fatal, results
will follow promptly. This may provo
the vital issue II q man-of- all work Is
not kept on the place. Fourth. there
must be Il supply Of feed. either hom.
grown, from neighb0ring farmers, or
purchased ut II feed store; here the
price element may prove prohibitive.
ION the other side Of the argument
we have tho incontrovcrtible facts that
milk Is one Of the most valuable of
foods and that family COW may be
a source Of bountiful. supply in the
very best condition and OF the best
quality.
Hard to Give Figures.
ut is difficult, II not impossible. to
give figures suggesting the cost OF
keeping one COW and the probable
profit or possible loss. Prices of labor
and feed, land values. requirements CT
different cows and most Of the other
controlling factors vary widely from
time to time and from place to place
and make averages hopeless. Also we
can not take practical farm figures,
for there one COW ia but q unit in a
herd and the herd but one feature of
the farm business: prices are Wholesale
and special overhead charges are re-
duccd to a minimum. The one COW
dairyman, on the other hand, has to
buy practically all his feed In small
quantities and ut highest retail prices;
the care Of the cow is a special task;
his equipment and program do not
enable the work to be done in the
quickest, most economical way; but he
can charge up his product at the price
he would have to pay for It; not at
the farmers valuation. Perhaps the
following table summarizes the data
and conclusions with fair accuracy:
but be prepared for variations in all
directions:
A lyrical Ledger.
One Years Cost, One Years Return
Original cost OF 10 quarts of
cowc0w $60-$150. milk daily,
depending on the 800 days on
l n,1a1ifvN ,,.oro~o