Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-02-20

Now that it has become apparent
cows, the question arises OF how to
determine which are the profitable
cows and which are the boarders.
Owners of dairy herds in the vicinity
OF jamestown in Stutsman County,
are getting this important informa-
ton through j. A. Barner, tester for
the Jamestown Cow Testing Associa-
ton.
The jamestown Cow Testing asso-
citation is not a county affair, but the
county aids i'll this i'm portant work by
combining some OF it's offices with
that Of the official COW tested. Mr..
Barner, who is q trained man from
the State Agricultural College OF Hi
nois. has been made secretary OF the
Stutsman County Fair Association,
and secretary of the Farm Bureau,
and is acting for the State Agricul-
turnl College as collector of labor cost
OF production figures. Combining
these Offices makes ii possible from
a financial standpoint for Mr.. Barner
to continue his testing work.
Bringing up the Test.
There was only one 40 ID. COW in
the vicinity Of jamestown when the
work Of testing was started in April,
1921. This cow is owned by G. G.
Fischer, who has an exceptionally
fine herd of Holsteins, most of them
purebred. Out of 230 COWS tested in
December and January, there were in
December 81 forty pound cows, and
in January there were So. The high
est cow in the association is Ida, a
high grade Holstcin OF the Fischer
farm. Her record is rs pounds OF
1r,to-C-t fr, t1n p,rvth Nh1 yon6N
this test in one of the coolest months
without any special care or feeding.
Indeed, when the Herald visitor was
at the Fischer farm, the temperature
of the barn seemed too low for the
best production.
There are l6 members in the as
sociation, Zach paying five dollars per
month. In telling about how he con-
ducts the testing for these farmers,
Mr.. Barner said:
According to the system we have
worked out, I test every mich COW in
the association nee every month. 1t
requires about four hours to test he
milk and figures up the records Of
each individual cow.
1.-THE State Hospital for the Insane,
a the largest herd in the associa-
tion. At present they are milking
about seventy cows up there, and it
lakes ABOUT TWO uaSs " test tiiSi.i'
They are Holsteins, and their tests
average around 3.5. G. H. knobel. Il
farmer living near Buchanan. has the
second largest herd. He a been
milking fifty cows this winter"
The Herald visitor drove out to see
Mr.. Knobels herd, and found him
very enthusiastic about the work of
the testing association. He said:
Pays For Itself.
my increase in production has
more than paid for the testing of my
Cows Before my cows were tested
I could not tell for a certainty which
were my most valuable cows. Now
can tell to- a pound. which ones are
paying their way. and which ON ~
should be. gotten rid of. My aim
first was to make as many of
cows as possible produce 40 pounds ..
butterfat per month. Now my aim is
to get those same COWS to produce
sixty pounds. and have quite a few
. over fifty pounds every month now
We had 4 feeding school here not
long ago Mr.. Barner said. This
was a great assistance to the mem
bers of the association. Mr.. knobel
is feeding a perfectly balanced ration
all grown on his own farm. h con-
sists of 40 lbs. silage, II lbs. barley
and oats. and Is lbs. of alfalfa hay.
He might make higher records if he
bought some of his high Concentrates
but he couldn't get his milk as eco
nonlically as he is doing now. This
way he makes a better margin of
profit on his milk and also adds to the
fertility of his soil"
Just what the farmer is losing by
not knowing exactly his cow
are doing is illustrated by the figures
obtained from the Bridgcman-ftu
Creamery in the following case:
Working Fr Nothing.
A ma living north of jamestown
who is reckoned as one of the best
farmers in the county, has l3 high
grade milking Shorthorns. During
1921 the cream produced by these
COWS brought $7T1, and in 1890 $3.50
Each COW produced on an average OF
146 pounds of butterfat for the year
bringing in on an average, l5c pei
day. Reckoning his feed at market
prices, how much was the farmer: