Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1925-04-11
AGRICULTURE
By Edgar w. Cooley
Extension Department
International Harvester Co.

nothing does more to improve the
herds than the organizing of cow
testing associations.
Cows differ widely in their produc-
tive ability and the only accurate
measure of the cows production is
obtained by weighing and testing her
milk. The most practical method is
found in the cooperative COW testing
association, since it furnishes cheap,
accurate method of testing.
The COW testing association puts
dairy operations on business basis.
The profit and loss account enables us
to Gull out the improbable cows. The
yearly records will indicate the high
producers from which the calves
should be saved to build up the herd.
The official tester is an expert on
dairy subjects. His advice is ours for
the asking. 1t will help us.
His assistance will enable us to in
troduce the most economical methods
of feeding and the most up-to-date
methods of handling our herd.
We can cooperate through the
organization in the purchase of feed
in developing a better market for
products and in holding dairy meet
ings. Cooperation fosters a better
community spirit among the dairymen
and breeders. The cow-testing asso-
citation is the cheapest and best way
to keep records of the dairy herd.
According to the Department of
Agriculture there were 627 cooper
ative contrasting associations in this
country in 1923. Inasmuch as the first
OF these associations in America was
formed in Michigan, 1905, this seems
like rapid growth until we consider
the fact that in Europe there were
/ at that time nearly 5000 such associa-
tions.
The average dairy cow of this
country produces something like 1000
pounds of milk in year and approx
mately 100 pounds of butterfat. This
is not profitable dairying according
to the best authorities. Yet farmers
can not greatly increase dairy produc-
ton unless they apply the scales and
Babcock test to their individual cows
and find out which cows pay for their
feed and which do not. The cooper
ative cow-testing association enables
all the dairy farmers of community
to test all their cows. With an aver
age of 25 members the cost of such
an association usually amounts to
from 81 to $3.50 per cow per year.
What are the results from conduct
ing a contrasting association? To
quote from the government report,
"Seven herds in Michigan have re-
manned continuously in the Michigan
association since it was formed in
1905. In 1906 the average yield for
each cow was $685. pounds Of milk
and 231.1 pounds of fat. The profit
from each cow was $22.23 in 1906; in
4, 1918 the profit per COW was $51.O8, or
an increase of $28.85 per cow"
Improvement. in dairy production
necessitates an improvement in the
dairyman as we'll as improvement in
the cow, and improvement in the dairy
methods. The cow-testing association
opens the dairyman's eyes and makes
Of his business an exact profession.
The plan of the cooperative cow
testing association came from Den
mark in 1895. Ten years later the
testing association with some modifi-
cations was introduced into the United
States.
The growth of the movement in this
country has been rapid. July 1914,
nine years after the first association
was organized, there were 1853 asso-
Citations operating in 80 different
states.
The cooperative cow testing asso-
citation is founded on the principle that
a number of dairymen who are situat-
ed near each other in any community
can organize and employ man to do
their testing more cheaply and more
satisfactorily than they can do it
themselves. The most convenient as
ISOLATION to operate is one composed
of 26 members. This number permits
the tester to spend one day of each
month at each place without having
to work Sundays or holidays. In some
associations the tester furnishes his
own horse and buggy and drives from
place to place; in others, each farmer
, takes him to the next testing place.
The tester, supplied with an outfit,
arrives at the home of the dairyman
in the afternoon, weighs and takes a
proportionate sample of the milk of
each cow separately, and weighs the
fooI u,hioh hn oopc,1n,oc " Tho