Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1917-10-18
Keeping Dairy Records Only So
luton of Present-Da Prob
lens, Says Supervisors.
is KEY TO cow KNOWLEDGE
Every Animal Should Be Made to Pay
Its Way in This Day of Advanc-
ing Costs Of Food and
Labor.

time when COW testing and the keep
ing of dairy records was more neces-
sary than at present.
That is the solution to one of our
present-day problems which Is offered
by Roy Harris, supervisor Of tests in
Wisconsin for the American Guern-
sey Cattle club, the Holstein-Fresian
Association of America, the American
Jersey Cattle club, the Ayrshire
Breeders association, the Brown Cat
tie Breeders association, and the Red
POlled Cattle Club Of America.
In response to carefully formulated
inquiries by the editor Of one of the
leading dairy journals Of this country
he pointed out that in the early days
of cheap pasturage and low feed and
labor costs, almost any kind of cow
could pay her way, but that now 1t
takes pretty decent sort of a COW to
go through the year and keep her
board paid up all the time.
"Prices for dairy products" Mr.. Har-
ris declares, "have advanced, but they
have not nearly kept pace with the
advancing cost Of feeds and labor. A
few years ago when grain could be
had at $50 to $25 q ton the feeder did
not have to be so careful where it
went, but now with the price $50 to
$50 he is facing a condition where he
must use some thought and judgment
or find a deficit instead of a balance
to pay him for his pains.
''The old saying, a cow is cow
may be true in a way but it is unsafe
to follow these days. A COW is COW,
but some cows are more COW than
others. 1t is the difference in the ca
pacity and quality of COWS and in their
care and management that makes the
difference between profit and loss.
These differences are SO great that,
with prices as they are at present it
is not very safe to guess at a cows
production nor at the amount of feed
she eats.
''In spite of their reputation for
conservatism, farmers have not been
slow to see where the shoe began
at least the most urgent of first-aid
remedies They have gone direct to
the COWS and have been steadily weed
ing out the big eat, but little-milk kind
and filling their places with more
profitable producers.
'The American farmer has been pop
ularly supposed to be the ideal easy
mark for the lightning rod agent, the
gold brick man and the promoter Of
all kinds of wildcat schemes: but,
whether he is or not, he refuses to be
hoodwinked by a fraud on four legs
in the shape of COW. The milk scale
and the BabcOck test have been his
protection and have enabled him to
measure his COWS by sure and def
mite standard. That he is so prompt
in substituting certain knowledge for
guess work or snap judgment speaks
volumes for the sound business sense
Of the present-day dairyman.
Tests Show Best Cows.
"How does COW testing make for
dairy advancement? In several ways,
but these depend more or less upon the
type of dairying practiced. Common
ly, the dairyman has grade COWS or
cows of mixed breeding and derives
his main income from the sale of the
chief interest is to produce valuable
article at as low cost as possible so he
tests to find which COWS yield most
profltably or show the widest margin
of return over the cost of their feed.
"The difficulty in simply wedding out
the poor COWS is in replacing them
with better ones. Here again the test
plays a most important part for ami
mails purchased can be bought on basis
Of their records Of production or, if
one depends upon the increase of his
own herd, he can select heifers whose
dams have done the most satisfactory
work as shown by the scales and the
test. There will be some disappoint-
ments from either method; for COWS
that do well in one herd may not in
another, owing to unsuitable feed,
milking, exposure, or some other cause
affecting their production. 1t is also
true that heifers do not always inherit
the good qualities of their dams. Even
at that the use of production records
is the surest way to keep up the quail
ity of a herd and the only way in
which there is any certain basis for
Improvement
Another use of records, second in
value only to the above, is in the feed
ing Of the herd. To feed according
to production is both rational and eco
nomical. If all COWS are fed the same
it is evident that those of small ca
pacity will be overfed or those of larg-
er ability underfed, either of which
would mean a waste of valuable grain.
The trouble with feeding by guess is
the same as with most guess work
there Is at least an even chance that
it may be wrong. Therefore the scales
are becoming a recognized part of the
furDi t11ro IN food room