Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-02-17
DADRY0MG AS A SOURCE OF
INCOME TO THE FARMER

make the returns from his dairy an i'm
portant part of his farm income. This
is not always the case, however, as the
Young folks on the farm in this day and
age. will not be tied down TO the old
practice of "pailing" the cows before and
long after a full days work and ! glory
in their spunk. If the dairy is worthy of
dependence as a real, vital source Of farm
income. it should furnish enough returns
to insure help II equipment for doing
the work at reasonable hours.
The milking machine is the salvation
of the man without help in his own fam
lily, provided his dairy is of sufficient size
to take care of the overhead and this
must be figured as in any other business.
l question If it is good business TO de-
velop dairying in remote. sparsely settled
sections. as the cost of marketing the
product at the frequent intervals re-
CURED for the maintenance Of quality
is too great. In such cases, community
or cream route deliveries might solve the
problem.
The farmer who has good dependable
pasture, available forage and grain feed
crops and is SO situated that he can de-
liver whole milk or sweet cream for q
special trade. is certainly warranted in
developing his dairy operations to the
extent of being the main source Of in
come.
1 have in mind several dairy farmers
who have consistently met all operating
expenses OF their farms with the returns
from their diaries. thus releasing the in
come from sales of surplus grain and
livestock for payment of and debts or
other purposes. However. l know of no
one who has made a success of dairying
who has not been "dairy-minded." The
inclination of the farmer is III Of the
important factors in dairying.
In a. lines of human endeavor in this
day and age, there is a demand for eff
cheney. In the industrial world, and 1t
is coming to be more and more so in
farming, the inefficient soon drop out.
Undoubtedly dairying could stand con-
siderable increase in efficiency on many
farms. There are still many nondescript
COWS whose only contribution is to fur
nish exercise twice a day to an already
over-tired farmer. laboring under the illu-
sion that the cows are returning a profit,
I believe that we could block 40 per cent
of our so-called dairy COW and thereby
lessen our labors and still derive a great
er net return from Jul diaries by better
feeding and care of the remaining 60 pei
cent.
The success of some of our COW testing
associations and the benefits derived
from increased production through better
feeding methods and the elimination Of
Improbable producers, is conclusive evil
dence o. the need for such associations IL
all of our recognized dairy sections.
There are no prospects for anything
more than the usual seasonal 1uctua-
lions in the production and prices Of
dairy products. With the present In.
crease in population of about a millior
and a half annually, it will require nearly
375 900 additional ows each year to sup.
ply the increasing demand. AT the pres
ent time reports indicate that there is
slight decrease in dairy cows, SO ha'
farmers are very safe in developing theil
dairy herds where the conditions for pro
duction and marketing are favorable.