The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1923-06-01

1 anu IOU W 90 oil avn SN
potatoes Hard as this may be to
| believe. these are average losses
| set forth by experts in the Lon
don Times. That paper com
ments, IF the English farmer
this year simply ceases to grow
crops he will be keeping money
in his pocket instead OF losing
! it," The reasons for this situation
| as given by the London news
| paper are several, a disturbed
/ world, unstable exchanges, high
| railway rates. restricted credit,
too short credit and middlemen's
! profits. When milk sells for 10
cents a quart in England, the
| farmer gets cents, the railroad
cents; loaf OF bread retalls
for Is cents. the farmer gets 112
| cents, millers and bakers get the
rest: of every S. bill spent for
| beef the farmer gets only ~,
These figures are from the Lon
don Statist. They show how sim
liar are the troubles OF farmers
$500 miles apart.
ACCOUNT KEEPING ON FARM
Dairying was the principal enter
prise IN 1922 on twenty one farms
composing the Owatonna, MINI,
statistical route cost records OF
which have been supervised by the
farm management division or the
/ University Of Minnesota for several
years. In summarizing the reports
from the farms for 1922, Prof: g.. A.
Pond of University Farm finds that
the average cost Of keeping a dairy
COW for the year was $91 81; De ,
Quoting credit for skimmilk OF
0f hiTffarfat nTn-
duced by each COW was SIS. SO. The
cows on the 81 farms averaged 1875
pounds of butterfat a year at an
average cost per pound Of 4012 cents.
The average selling price Of butter
fat per pound was 45h. The return
per hour Of man labor in caring for
the herd amounted to 1914 cents. In
| figuring the total cost per cow Pro
! fessor Pond allows interest at 6 per
cent and liberal sums for deprecla =
ton and miscellaneous cash costs.
That record keeping generally leads
TO improved farming methods Is
from the twenty-one farms. Profes-
sor Pond says that in 1920 the aver
production of butterfat per cow on
these farms was 1877 pounds, the
average cost per pound 80 cents and
! the average selling price II cents.
In 1921 the production per cow was
10 pounds and the cost and selling
price 81 cents and As cents respec-
lively. In 1922 the production rose
to 1876 pounds per COW, an increase
OF 25 pounds In one year. I'm
doubtedly the annual reports, on the
dairy enterprise received by these
the low production of their herds
and the resulting high cost per unit
Of production was a large factor in
the improvement noted" says Pro-
fessor Pond. This is indicated in
the fact that for the last two years
an average of one cow in every five
has been sold out of these herds and
replaced by the purchase Of higher
producers or by heifers from the
better cows. The result of this weed .
ing out process Is quite apparent
More economical feeding has also
resulted. The use of alfalfa hay
has increased and saving of grain
effected. The 1876 pounds Of fat in
over 200 pounds less grain than the
ITO pounds Of the previous year, due
not only to the higher efficiency OF
the cows but also to the better bal
anced rations and the increased use
of alfalfa. The importance of high
yield Of butterfat in reducing the
cost of production per pound is we'll
demonstrated in case of individual
herds. The highest producing herd
in the group averaged 23S pounds
Of butterfat per COW and the cost Of
production per pound was 26 cents.
The lowest producing herd had an
duced at cost of IS cents per
pounds or more than twice as much.
The higher production Of the form er
herd was largely due to the higher
productive efficiency of the cows
and the greater skill in caring for
and feeding them, since there was
little difference in the amount of
feed per COW in the two herds.
when one recalls the fact that the
average COW in the state, according
to the 1920 census, produced only
5000 pounds of milk per year.
whereas these cows averaged nearly
5000 pounds annually, it is apparent
that there must be a large number
OF cows which are falling far short
OF paying for their feed and care"
| The average age Of mich cows
when slaughtered for beef is ten
years, and the price realized for
| such COWS is about one half the
price brought by younger cows
sold for milking purposes, &C
| cording to a nationwide investi-
cation Of present conditions
made this year. State averages
of the age at which cows are
sold for slaughter were remark
ably uniform, there being no
state with an average under
| nine years and on state with an
average over eleven years. States
showing an average of II years
we're Maryland, West Virginia,
Florida, Wisconsin Louisiana,
| Utah and Nevada States with
an average of years were New
| Hampshire, Massachusetts,, Con
necticut, S. Carolina Georgia and
| Alabama In the early spring
this year, when the survey was
made, milch cows showed an
average sale price Of $32 per
| head when sold for slaughter, or
about so per cent of the average
price of $63 for COWS sold at the
same time for milking purposes.
USE OF FOREST LANDS.
Treating the forests as crop lands
rather than as timber mines makes
for the permanent prosperity of
| n1ifiac h,1iIf orO1Ipd tho Inn, ho y