THE UNPROFITABLE COW.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1305, 7 December 1911, Page 8

THE UNPROFITABLE COW.

■WHERE MONEY IS LOST. A recent bulletin, of the New, York Jjxperinicnt-Station stresses the necessity tor weeding out- the unprofitable cow! iu the lollpwmg. terms ''The greatest' source of loss in tho dairy industry is the feeding, of unprofitable. cows For example.:" A certain cheese factory m one year paid ono ofits patrons 877 dollars (£l7aV for-' tho product of eiglit cowp> while it gave an-?'9,.-vP?tro?, 0 - (lo !!; lrs , lp ss;.or 'S6S dollars (.Klid) lor the milk from 2i cows. Tho latter dairyman- • boarded nearly. three : times as.many cows-as, tho other to "et less-gross return. " In another locality some- herd-owners secured an. average ,of 300 pounds of butter-tat per cow,. while-others at the same place/and iu the samo time aver-' Mdii i >r Potmfls per cow. An-income of 100 dollars. (J!i0) per cow,, as in the bettor herd, gives some margin for profit but how can 20 dollars (£5) a hend resultin anything but loss? "Probably , some animals in- the poor herds mentioned were profitable pro-' ducers, but it is safe to sav that the' ownors would have- beon better off at the.end of tho year if, before the vear began, thoy had carefully studied their cows, nnd : sold one-half of thorn. It is probable also that in the better' herds some weeding out might liavo been done to advantage, for- great individual differences are found even in tested hordsbred for years along one lino of productivity. 1

Cntii. the feeder knows his cows throngh the scales and the Habcock test, he can never claim to bo (101117 a dairy 'business,' ho is merely doing dairy 'guess work,' and may be feeding into Polly ..all- the profits-he should- make from Bess and . Spot."