A COW CENSUS.

Northern Advocate, 14 October 1893, Page 1

A COW CENSUS.

Farrilfcrs, fteep the Best Cows, or Keep

None at AH.

ijvery man 6f sense knows that the average f^arm 1 cow brings little profit. The average production oi Ihe' average cow in Wisconsin, Illinois, Nev/ Ycirfc and other of the best dairy states is only about 8,000 pounds of milk a year. Partly this is the fault of the cow and partly the fault of the owner. Of course the owner must be held responsible for the fact, for he alone can institute 1 any improvement. Three thousand pounds Of milk are equivalent to 125 pounds of butter, provided it be good milk. That amount of butter, as the ordinary farmer makes it and sells it, brings about 16 cents a pound. So you can see that the partnership between the ordinary farmer and the average cow brings in only about $20 a year grois.

A thorough "cow census" instituted in the town of Ellisburg, N. V., six years ago by Hoard's Dairyman revealed the fact that there were a large number of herds of cows in that old dairy town that did not earn above $20 per cow for the year. The owners of these cows felt this fact in their flattened pGCketbooks, but they did not have enterprise sufficient to set squarely about the work of improvement. When the "cow census" was taken, it turned a ray of light into such an unprofitable way of doing business, and manifest improvement in the char actef" of the cows has since taken place 1 /

In bulletin 50 of the' Cornell experiment station is given a bit of history that should be read and studied long and well by every farmer who earnestly desires good profit in keeping cows. The bulletin is devoted to the problem of the "cost of milk production, but the point we are after here is to bring out the fact there shown, which shall serve as an answer to the question at the head of this article. The. Cornell herd during the time of the experiment, beginning Jan. 15, 1892, and ending Jan. 14, 1893, consisted of 20 cowsv This herd had been developed from the ordinary cows of the neighborhood by Professor Roberts' since 1875. His method had been the simple and effective one of using only thoroughbred bulls of dairy breeds and a rigid selection of the best heifer calves. The "first cows in 1874 produced but little more than 3,000 = pounds of milk. The descendants of these same cows produced in 1892 more; than 7,000 pounds per cow. Any man. can see that the profit of cow keeping is greatly increased by the use of a little j good dairy sense. ' ; : ,

Professor Roberts has done nothing' that the most ordinary farmer cannot do. Any man in these days can produce a good thoroughbred sire of any of the four leading dairy breeds, the Ayrshires, the Holateins, the Guernseys or the Jerseys. Good, well bred male calves can be bought for a low price. He^an keep right along in the same road, holding steadily to the same breed and selecting the best heifers. There is nothing mysterious or difficult about this, and any man ought to know that it is not one-half as expensive as the keeping of poor cows. Every farmer has the road open before him for better profit in cows if he will but enter it. It means simply the use of a little more dairy intelligence in the way of better breeding and better feeding and care. The profits of keeping say 10 cows, giving each 7,000 pounds of milk, over that of keeping 22 of their grandmothers producing the same amount of milk, tells the story beyond cavil.— Chicago Inter Ocean.