2y ee et 7 yey rete tetatetitot hace SUNS AS iy wet agit Perpeses 25 Essie aA Nees teeeet ane Copyright N° COPYRIGHT DEPOSI DAIRY FARMING THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK - BOSTON - CHICAGO - DALLAS ATLANTA + SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., LimitEep LONDON - BOMBAY - CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltp. TORONTO “yeJ-1094Nq Jo spunod ggOT SuTUTeyUOD ‘yjrur jo spunod FOF‘LZ poonpoid rived 9uo UT BY} MOD W TOM4#d ATITAL ANILSONVE Te * ay ge ies tS iad ARS: TAS ih ccc ae cabs DAIRY FARMING BY C. H. ECKLES, D.Sc. PROFESSOR OF DAIRY HUSBANDRY, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AND G. F. WARREN, Pu.D. PROFESSOR OF FARM MANAGEMENT, NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, CORNELL UNIVERSITY New Bork THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1916 All rights reserved Mr gs * Sad . . yi CopyYRigHT, 1916, By THE MACMILLAN comPANY. ms = =A hoe eo = : .” ete. ee = iy ne “l ort: 7 “ << a ‘2 eect F : 27,< 1e > S -~OED at i316 ‘ ' ‘Morksoot: Press Collateral reading . ‘ : : : ° ; > CHAPTER 8 MiLk AND Its PropuctTs . Composition of milk: Average composition, 168 — Water, 168 — Fat, 169— Protein, 170 — Sugar, 170 — Min- eral matter or ash, 171— Color of milk, 171. Factors affecting composition: Kind of animal, 172 — Breed, 173 —Stage of lactation, 174 — Individuality of the animal, 175— Interval between milkings, 175 — Fore milk and strippings, 176 — Effect of feed, 176. Market milk : Sanitary milk, 177 — Certified milk, 181. Butter making on the farm: Butter making on the farm, 182 — Facilities needed, 183 — What is good butter ? 183 — Flavor, 184— Body, color, and salt, 184— Separation of cream, 185— Ripening of cream, 186—Temperature for churning, 187—Churns and churning, 188 — Salting and working, 189 — Package, 190. Factory products: Creameries, 191— Cheese _making, 192 — Condensed milk, 193 — Milk flour, 194. Questions and problems Laboratory exercises Collateral reading 166 166 167 168-201 195 CONTENTS X1il CHAPTER 9 PAGES CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAIRYING . 202-220 Cattle and grass, 202 — Topograpby and climate, 203 — Location of beef and dairy cattle, 204 — Relation of trans- portation to dairying, 208 — Other adjustments due to transportation, 213 — Marginal regions, 214 — Effect of dis- tance to railroad, 214— Soil and climate as determining the kind of product, 215— Kind of product and season of pro- duction, 215 — Animal unit defined, 218. Questions and problems . i F : ; : A _ 219 Collateral reading . : : : : : : : 220 CHAPTER 10 SysTEMsS OF FarMING ON Darry Farms . } . 221-2389 Crops for feed: Corn silage, 221— Soiling crops, 993 — Roots, 223 — Legumes, 224— Pasture, 224 — Home-grown grain, 225. Cropping systems for dairy farms: Principles of a good cropping system, 225 — Examples of rotations, 226. Cash crops and feed raised: Feed and cash crops, 227 — All feed purchased, 228 — Nothing but roughage raised, 228 — Roughage and grain raised, 229— Roughage and cash crops raised, 229. Management of manure: Amount of manure produced, 230 — Fertility of feed returned by cows, 231 — Losses of manure and their prevention, 232 — Value of manure, 234 — Value of manure depends on the rate of application, 235 — Value of manure depends on the crop on which it is applied, 238. : Questions and problems . ‘ F BS ed 63. : : 238 Laboratory exercises : P ; ‘ 2 : ‘ 239 CHAPTER 11 Mertuops or Renting Dairy Farms B . 240-245 Cash rent, 240 — Share of crops, 240 — Site of searpte 240 — Examples of rented farms, 242. Questions and problems . : : ‘ : , ; 245 Collateral reading . A E ‘ ‘ . ; , 245 xiv CONTENTS CHAPTER 12 Cost or Propuction AND METHODS OF MARKETING Cost of production: Cost of producing milk, 246 — Cost of raising heifers, 250. Marketing dairy products: Ways of marketing, 253 — Value of skim-milk in cities, 254. Questions and problems Collateral reading CHAPTER 13 OTHER IMPORTANT Factors FoR Success IN Darry FARMING Ways: of- measuring projsit : The most important factors for success, 258 — Ways of measuring profit, 258. Size of business :- Size of business, 259 — Relation of size of farm to efficiency in use of labor, 260 — Relation of size of farm to work done, 262 — Relation of size of farm to efficiency in use of horses, 264 — Relation of size of farm to efficiency in use of machinery,-265— Relation of size of farm to efficiency in use of capital, 265 — Size of herd, 267 — Summary of size of dairy farms, 268. Returns per cow: Reason for poor returns, 269 — Costs and returns must both be considered, 271 — Poor producers promptly sold, 271 — Size of cows, 271. ‘Crop yields: Soils for the dairy farm, 274— The well- balanced farm, 274. Diversified and specialized dairy farms: Relation of cash crops to profits, 276 — Relation of capital to amount of stock to keep, 277— Acres per animal unit, 278— Reasons for large profits on diversified farms, 279. Some successful farms: A successful dairy and hog farm in Iowa, 281— A successful diversified dairy farm in New York, 285. Questions and problems Laboratory exercises Collateral reading ‘ PAGES . 246-257 255 257 258-288 287 288 288 CONTENTS XV PAGES APPENDIX . “ ‘ 2 : : ; : : : . 289-806 Addresses of cattle breeders associations, 289 — Scale of points for a Jersey cow, 290 —Scale of points for Ayrshire cow, 291—Scale of points for Guernsey cow, 293 — Scale of points for Holstein-Friesian cow, 294— Imports and ex- ports of dairy products, 296 — Legal standards for dairy products, 297 — Average composition of milk and its products, 298 — Average weights of milk and cream, 298 — The Hecker feeding standard, 298 — Wing’s method of balancing rations, 304 — Average weights of feeding-stufts, 305 — Measuring grain, 305— Measuring ear corn, 305 — Measuring straw, 306— Measuring hay, 306 — Capacity of silos, 306. DAIRY FARMING CHAPTER 1 IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY G. F. WARREN 1. Milk a Universal Food. Milk is the one universal food of mankind. All civilized peoples use milk from farm animals. The more highly civilized and prosperous the population, the greater is the amount of milk consumed. In regions so far north that cows cannot be kept, reindeer milk is used. In regions like India and the Philippines, which are too hot for our common cattle, the water buffaloes are the dairy animals and beasts of burden. In the deserts the milk of mares and camels serves as food. In regions where the people are very poor, goats and sheep are used as milk animals. In parts of South America llamas are so used. Everywhere civilized man keeps some milk animal. 2. Value of Milk as Food. The value of milk as food is beginning to be better appreciated, but-even now its full value is not always realized. Most liquids have very little food value; for this reason, all liquids are sometimes looked upon as luxuries. But average milk contains 12 to 13 per cent of dry matter. This dry matter is readily digestible and contains necessary foods in good proportions. B 1 2 DAIRY FARMING The edible portion of an average beef animal is only 38 per cent dry matter. The remaining 62 per cent is water.’ A quart of milk weighs 2.15 pounds and contains two- thirds as much energy value, and nearly half as much protein as a pound of sirloin steak. It is particularly rich in ash, the bone-forming materials that are so essential for all young animals. It contains about twice as much of these as does beefsteak. A quart of skim-milk has over one-third of the energy value of a pound of sirloin steak. It is richer in ash and has almost half as much protein as the steak, as is shown in Table 1. TABLE 1.—CoMPARISON OF SIRLOIN STEAK WITH MiLK, ButTrTeER, AND CHEESE ? ENERGY VALUE Dry WATER Marune ASH PROTEIN Pounds| Pounds | Pounds | Pounds | Calories 1 pound sirloin steak . . 4 | .46 .165 | .009 985 1 quart'4 % milk). ).2062 5 | 18F 28 .O71 .015 699 1 quart'skim-milk' ... . | 1.95 .20 .073 015 366 1 pound butter . . mo .89 .010 .030 | 3605 {pound ehesse (fulleream)| .34 | 266 9) 286 | 038 | 1950 As the value of milk as food becomes better known, it is more widely used by persons of all ages. If much that is spent for meat were spent for milk, we could be as well fed at less cost. If much of the money that is spent for tea, coffee, alcohol, and other stimulants, that have little or no food value, were spent for milk, our health and our wealth would both be improved. 3. Butter and Cheese as Food. Butter is often thought of as an expensive food, but it is the most concentrated of 1U.S. Dept. Agr.; Office of Experiment Stations, Bulletin (Revised) 28, pp. 27, 28. 2U.S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations, Bulletin (Revised) 28. IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 3 our ordinary foods. As shown in Table 1, a pound of butter will furnish three and two-thirds times as much energy as a pound of sirloin steak. Usually it does not cost twice as much as the steak. It is one of the cheap animal foods, is highly concentrated and easy to digest. Cheese is a cheap source of animal protein. We use over four times as much butter as cheese, but the amount of cheese used is increasing. 4.. One Dairy Cow per Family. In the ten years 1900 to 1910 the number of steers and bulls in the United States decreased one-fifth, but the number of dairy cows increased with the population. In 1910 the average number of persons living together as one family was 4.5. Counting the dairy cows on farms and those not on farms, there was one dairy cow for each 4.2 persons, or a little over one cow per family. For sixty years the United States has main- TaBLE 2. — PopULATION AND NUMBER oF Datry Cows on Farms AND RANGES IN THE UNITED STATES EXCLUSIVE OF OUTLYING Possessions ! Vaan Paden, NUMBER OF DarrRy | NUMBER OF PERSONS Ows PER OW 1850 23,191,876 6,385,094 3.6 1860 31,443,321 8,585,735 3.7 1870 38,558,371 8,935,332 4.3 1880 50,155,783 12,443,120 4.0 1890 62,947,714 16,511,950 3.8 1900 75,994,575 17,135,633 4.4 1910 91,972,266 4.5 20,625,432 1 Twelfth Census, Vol. V, p..704. Thirteenth Census, Vol. I, pp. 24, 1285, and Vol. V, p. 341. In addition to the above there were 973,033 dairy cows not on farms in 1900 and 1,170,338 in 1910. Most of these were kept by families in villages, Vol. V, p. 430. The census does not give the number of cows in cities for the earlier years. 4 DAIRY FARMING tained an average of a little more than one dairy cow per family. Because meat is so expensive we are using less of it, but we are not decreasing the number of dairy cows. 5. Amounts of Dairy Products Used. The number of dairy cows just about keeps pace with population, but there have been changes in the use made of milk. The amount of condensed milk produced increased 165 per cent in the ten years 1899 to 1909.1. The amount of fresh milk used as food has increased rapidly. In New York City the amount consumed per capita has increased one-third in twenty years. TABLE 3.— BuTTER AND CHEESE PRODUCED AND CONSUMED IN THE UNITED STATES, AND MILK SuiprpeD TO NEw York City MILK AND CREAM BuTTEeR CHEESE SHIPPED TO NEw YORK Crry 4 YEAR ae ee ais anise r eg ae ea ipo nga Milk per one Capita 2 Gata 3 Gapiis 2 Capita 3 P Cream Pounds Pounds Pounds Pounds Quarts Quarts 1870 13.3 4.2 1880 16.1 4.8 1890 19.1 18.9 4.1 2.9 100 2 1900 19.6 19.4 3.9 3.6 109 5 1910 17.6 17.5 3.5 3.8 133 7 Approximately 288 quarts of milk per person are used per year in the farm family. In cities about 112 quarts per capita® are consumed. It is possible that this differ- ence has something to do with the better development of 1 Thirteenth Census, Vol. X, p. 374. 2U.S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin 177, p. 7. 3’ Amount produced plus imports less exports as given in reports of U. S. Dept. Agr. 4 Data for New York City furnished by The Milk Reporter. 5 U.S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin 177, pp. 17, 18. IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 5 children on farms. But the amount consumed in cities is rapidly increasing. 6. Milk Inspection. In recent years great interest has been taken in improving the milk supply. Physicians and boards of health have been agitating and inspecting. As in most worthy publicity campaigns many statements are made that are not true. The agitation has brought pressure for better milk, but at the same time the extreme statements made have led many persons to use less milk than they other- wise would. The writer believes that for every person who is injured by milk, many persons suffer from the lack of it. We need education for better care of milk on the farm, in the city, and in the home, but we also need education as to the great food value of milk so that more milk will be used. It is unfortunate when one of these interferes with the other. | Dairy inspection has done much good. It will do more good when more wisely performed. In the past it has too often been made by persons who do not understand farm- ing or farmers. The emphasis is often placed on unessential things. An inexperienced youth with an arbitrary score card turned loose among dairy farmers usually does more harm than good. In this way unnecessary antagonism is often aroused. Recent investigations have shown that there is no relationship between the score of a dairy as shown by a score card and the quality of the milk produced.! In a later chapter the essentials for the production of whole- some milk are discussed. The vital points are that the milker and the cow both be in good health and that the milk be kept cold and as free from dirt as possible. 1. Dairy Cattle as a Source of Meat. Since there is one dairy cow per family there is approximately one veal calf 1 New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 398. 6 DAIRY FARMING or cow available for beef each year per family. About seventeen pounds of dressed veal per family is used annually in the United States.!. Nearly all of this is produced by dairy cows. From the comparative number of dairy cows and other cows, it appears that in addition to veal calves almost half of the beef animals slaughtered are produced by dairy cows. As population becomes more dense, we shall depend more and more on the dairyman for our meat supply. Beef from the beef breeds of animals will become too éxpensive for any but the wealthy, as it now is in densely populated countries. In the ten years 1900 to 1910 the number of dairy cows increased. Butter production increased 9 per cent and cheese production 7 per cent. But the number of steers and bulls decreased one-fifth. 8. Dairy Cattle in Other Countries. The British Isles , have one dairy cow to eleven persons. They import large quantities of cheese and butter. France and the Netherlands have one cow to five persons. Germany has one cow to six persons. Denmark has one cow to two persons. It furnishes large quantities of butter for England. Japan and China show a striking contrast with America and Europe. Their dense population makes any kind of animal food too expensive to be used freely except by the wealthy. Instead of one cow for a family, Japan has one head of cattle for thirty-seven persons. The number of dairy cows is not reported, but this probably means that there is not more than one cow for from seventy to one hundred persons.? As the population in the United States is becoming denser, we are unfortunately forced to use less animal food, but we 1 Assuming that the calves slaughtered on farms were as heavy as those killed in slaughter houses. 2U. S. Dept. Agr., Yearbook, 1912, pp. 666-668. International Insti- tute of Agriculture, Vol. V, No. 10, p. 485. IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 7 still use far more than any other nation. For each person we now produce over twenty-five times as much human food from animals as is produced for each person in Japan.! 9. The Dairy Cow an Efficient Machine. From a given quantity of feed the dairy cow produces more human food than does any other animal. According to Armsby’s stand- ards, the amount of feed required to grow and fatten a 1200-pound steer would, if fed to dairy cows, produce about three times as much human food. But the dairy cow-must be raised, and the growing heifer is no more efficient than the growing beef animal. Both industries require that cows and bulls be kept. Figures showing the returns from the entire beef industry are not available, but results of the entire dairy industry in one county, including the feed for the entire dairy herds and —ineluding milk and meat returned for human food, are given in Table 4, as well as the results from an entire poultry in- dustry. As producers of protein, hens are the nearest com- petitors of dairy cattle, but judged on an energy basis hogs are second to cows. Both hens and hogs consume a higher class of foods so that when compared with cows they are not quite so productive as the figures would suggest. 10. Cows Effective Users of By-products. As population increases, less and less grain is fed to animals because it is all needed as human food. In Europe and other densely populated regions cows are fed less grain than in America. The dairy cow is the most efficient machine for changing grass, hay, straw, cornstalks, and the by-products from mills into human food. The cow will make a larger amount of human food out of these products than will any other 1 Calculated on the basis of animal units aside from horses. See page 218. 8 DAIRY FARMING TABLE 4. — ProporTION oF Foop Eaten By Various CLASSES or Live Stock THAT IS RETURNED FOR Human USE! PeR CENT OF PRO- PE ENT OF ENERGY RETURNED TEIN RETURNED RC RETUR ofrotal | Of Rises | of Total | OF Digest |OF tae Protein Food of Food TREE So he 41.0 48.9 LS a ee 31.4 40.6 Dairy herds‘. . 14.7 22.9 10.0 15.1 33.8 OA) 2 ee ae ends Oe 8.9 17.0 SEPT ene aa ee Be 6.4 11.8 4.7 6.9 14.8 Heat. 034. Z 16.1 20.9 (A 8.3 14.1 Poultry flock 8 14.5 18.6 6.4 ts 12.6 Eee is ee Aaa 10.2 13.2 15:4 iso 29.9 1 Values as human food from U. 8S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin (Revised) 28. 2 1000-pound cow giving 6000 pounds of 4 per cent milk based on Armsby’s ‘feeding standard. 3 Similar cow raised to 2 years on Armsby’s standard, milked 5 years, then sold as lean beef. 4 Food eaten by 5191 cows, 1078 heifers, 874 calves, 158 bulls, in Dela- ware County, New York. Pasture assumed to be one-third of the food. Net product 24, 646,000 pounds milk, 100,000 pounds skim-milk, 260 pounds butter, and 559 cows, 235 heifers, 62 bulls, 9 calves for beef. Most of the calves were killed and thrown away at birth. 5 Steer grown to 1000 pounds in 2 years, then fattened 200 pounds in 100 days by Armsby’s standard. Meat counted as fat beef. 6 All food eaten by a steer that grew to 1588 pounds in 3 years, assumed to be fat beef. Ontario Agricultural College, Report, 1893, p. 122. 7 Food and product of 1 hen, average of 1803 by the writer. 8 All feed except grass for an average of 1803 hens and 60 roosters kept one year, 2713 chickens raised. Net product 204,093 eggs above those used for incubation, 1080 fowls and 1404 cockrels and pullets sold for meat, 4395 pounds, records kept by the writer. ° Hogs assumed to have eaten the same feed as 1 hen and to have made a gain of 1 pound for 5 pounds of grain. IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 9 animal. Cows also make use of the grasses that grow on large areas of land that cannot be profitably tilled. 11. Dairying and Maintenance of Soil Fertility. From most parts of the United States large quantities of stock foods are shipped out for foreign use. In many sections roughage that is good stock food is still destroyed. The introduction of dairying helps to keep a larger part of the fertility on the farm. Many farmers who make dairying a part of their farm business consider the maintenance of soil fertility, and the use of waste products, to be as important as the direct profits from the cows. Experiments for many years have shown that it is pos- sible to maintain the fertility of the soil by means of chemical fertilizers, but as a matter of fact farmers who use farm manure are most likely to keep up the fertility. Cows Help to Provide a Full Year’s Work. A farm is pri- marily a place to work. The carpenter who works only half the year is not likely to accumulate much property, nor is the farmer who works only half the year likely to pay for a farm. A limited number of cows on the farm give employment in the morning and evening when field work cannot be done. In the North where cows are most numerous, the days are so short during much of the year that a full day’s work cannot be done, unless there are chores to do. Cattle also provide work for stormy days and for cold days in winter. They also provide work that children can do before and after school. Farm children are particularly fortunate in that they have to help their fathers in the farm work. In the cities laws are passed to prevent child labor, not because all labor is injurious but because of the conditions under which the work is done. Farm children learn much by working with 10 DAIRY FARMING their fathers. Perhaps the most important thing that they learn is to persist in necessary work even when they would rather not. While helping with the chores the children are learning and at the same time helping to increase the family income. 12. Receipts from Dairy Products. Corn is the most valuable product of American farms but most of it is fed on the farm. Dairy products are probably the largest single source of income of American farmers. The dairy products sold from farms in 1909 amounted to nearly $500,000,000. The value of both cotton and wheat sold exceededthis. But if the cattle and calves that are also a product of the dairy were combined with the milk, the receipts from these sales would probably exceed the sales of any other product. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Get the local retail prices of butter; cheese, milk, skim- milk, and sirloin steak. Make a table showing the amount of protein and energy value that $1 will buy in each product. 2. Define ‘‘ per capita.’’ Define ‘‘ dry matter.”’ 3. Find the amount of milk and butter used per person in 10 to 12 families in your region. Average these and compare with the averages given on page 4. Each student may report on one family, or more if there are not 10 students in the class. 4. From the census reports for your state find the population and the number of dairy cows for your county. How many per- sons are there for one cow? Compare with Table 2. What dairy products are shipped into your county? What products are shipped out of the county? 5. Repeat question 4 for your state. 6. What was the total value of all dairy products sold in your county in 1909? . In your state? Which of the dairy products sold are most important? 7. What was the value of dairy products compared with other leading farm products in your state? IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 11 8. Why is more cheese used in Europe than in America? Why are we using more cheese than formerly? 9. Of what dairy products does the United States import more than it exports? Of which does it export more than it imports? Which are greater in value, the total imports or exports? To what product is this due? See page 296. COLLATERAL READING The Production and Consumption of Dairy Products, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin 177. The Use of Milk as Food, U.S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 363. In the lists of collateral reading no attempt is made to give a complete list of books and bulletins. A few of the more important references that are readily available are given. Bulletins of the different state experiment stations are not always available, for this reason they are not often given as collateral reading but are referred to in footnotes. At the beginning of the course the experiment station in your state should be asked for all available bulletins. If after examination it appears that certain ones of the publications are likely to be needed for special study, members of the class should send postal cards requesting them. It is better to have the students do this writing because instruction as to where to get information is a part of the course. Write to the Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C., or to your congressman for the census report on agriculture for your state. Also ask for the report on animals and animal products for the United States. Many important laboratory exercises are given after Chapter 2, page 39, and for following chapters. These exercises should be begun while Chapters 1 and 2 are being studied. Because of the frequent use that is made of the Babcock milk test it is a good plan to begin the laboratory work with Exercise 20, page 196. ~ CHAPTER 2 BREEDS OF CATTLE C. H. EckLEs ORIGIN OF BREEDS 13. Origin of Domesticated Cattle. No cattle are native to America. All those found in both North and South America are descended from cattle brought from Europe and are the descendants of wild cattle that formerly lived in Europe and Asia. It is not known where or by whom cattle were first domesticated as it occurred in prehistoric times. It is generally believed that there were two original forms of wild cattle, the one somewhat smaller than the Jersey, the other probably larger than any cattle that live to-day and in type something like the long-horned cattle formerly raised on the ranges of South America and in Texas. 14. Origin of Breeds. The differences between these two wild types account in part for the differences between breeds of cattle, such for instance as the extreme difference in type between the Jersey and ‘the Holstein, or between the long-horned cattle found in Texas and the Angus or the Shorthorns. Other factors in the formation of breeds are climate, food, and nature of the surroundings. For example, the cattle of Holland as a result of living for generations in a rich level 12 BREEDS OF CATTLE 13 country have become adapted to these conditions and are not so well suited to rough scanty pastures as the Brown Swiss, or the Ayrshires which have been produced on poor pastures. On the continent of Europe the breeds and sub- breeds are almost innumerable. They have chiefly originated in the manner mentioned. In Great Britain alone ten or twelve distinct breeds have developed. Up to about the middle of the eighteenth century these natural influences were the chief factors in the development of breeds. About that time, largely as the result of the work of Robert Blake- well, a great interest was aroused in England in improving cattle. The beginning of modern breeds may be traced largely to this great movement. The methods used were careful selec- tion, more liberal feeding, and good management. In some cases, as with the Shorthorns and the Ayrshires, crossbreeding and inbreeding were at first practiced. At the present time most cattle breeders direct their efforts towards further improvement in the breeds already in existence and not towards the establishment of new breeds. ; 15. Definition of Terms. Scrub and native are terms used to indicate that an animal does not carry more than a small amount of the blood of an improved breed. Grade. This term, generally used with some breed name, as Grade-Holstein, means that the animal has one-half or usually more of the blood of the improved breed. When the proportion of improved blood is high, the animal is called a “ high grade.”’ Crossbred indicates that the animal is the offspring of pure- bred parents of distinct breeds. - Pure-bred. This term is properly applied to cattle whose ancestors came from the native home of the breed and con- 14 DAIRY FARMING formed to the standards of the breed. Records must be available showing the breeding of these animals and tracing back in all lines to those coming from the original home of the breed. Pure-bred animals are sometimes called thorough- bred, but this term is also used to indicate a particular breed of horses and is usually restricted to that meaning. Registered. The breeders of each important breed of cattle have an organization for the purpose of keeping records and advancing the interests of the breed. Each of these organizations keeps record books. Any pure-bred animal that has the breed characteristics may be recorded, provided both parents are already on record. A pure-bred animal that is recorded is called a registered animal. 16. Classification of Cattle. The breeds common in America are generally classed as follows: Dairy Breeds. Holstein, Ayrshire, Jersey, Guernsey, Brown Swiss, Dutch Belted. Dual Purpose. Shorthorn (Dairy Type), Red Polled, Polled Durham, Devon. Beef. Shorthorn, Hereford, Aberdeen-Angus, Galloway. 17. Value of Breeds. Animals of a distinct breed that is adapted to the region usually sell for more than animals of mixed or unimproved breeding even if the latter are equally good animals individually. The value of the pure-bred is due to the fact that it is possible to predict with reasonable certainty what characteristics will be inherited by the off- spring. Among dairy cattle it is not uncommon to find ani- mals of mixed breeding that rank with pure-breds as pro- ducers of dairy products. These animals of mixed breeding, however, cannot be depended upon to reproduce themselves in their offspring. Very high grades are more likely to produce young like themselves. Pure-breds have been BREEDS OF CATTLE 15 bred for generations with certain objects in view, and in time these characteristics become fixed and are transmitted with fair certainty. The breed should be looked upon as a means of retaining the characteristics that have been developed by the efforts of the breeders in the past. Certain breeds have for gen- erations been selected and developed for the purpose of pro- ducing the greatest possible amount of good beef from the least feed. It is reasonable to expect an animal belonging to one of these breeds to excel one whose ancestors have never been selected for any definite purpose. Other breeds have been developed as dairy breeds, or for dual-purpose use, and are the most efficient animals for these purposes. 18. Pedigrees. A pedigree is a record of the ancestry of an animal. Its value lies in the opportunity it affords to study the characteristics of the ancestors. Breed associa- tions ! have been organized by those interested, primarily for the purpose of keeping authentic records of the ancestry of pure-bred animals. Upon payment of the registration fee an animal that has the required breed characteristics and both of whose parents are recorded, may be recorded and assigned a registration number. By this means it is possible to trace the ancestry of any registered animal as far back as the ancestors that were imported. In ordinary use from three to six generations are recorded on the pedigree as studied by the breeder. While pedigrees are of great’ value in making it possible to select breeding animals to better advantage, it is a com- mon mistake to attach too much importance to them. An animal with a pedigree may not be any better than others that are high grades of the same breed. Pedigree alone is , 1 See addresses on p. 289, . 16 DAIRY FARMING no indication of the merit of the animal as an individual since it is merely a record of parentage. Below is given the pedigree of the Jersey cow, Rosette’: Gipsy Maid, including four generations. The name of the sire in each case appears at the top, and that of the dam at the bottom of the bracket. Orlando P. Rosette’s Golden | 2535 H. C. ( Eminent Lad | Rosette 57498 Rosette’s 5th P. 66050 2881 H. C. Reminder P. 2052 H. C. a d Financial Queen | Financial ee PE 920623 155098 6060 H. C. ; Guenon’s Golden | 2571 H. C. Lad 62168 Loraine My Jolly Girl 206038 Guenon’s Golden Guenon’s Mag V [ sea: Misse s Mag V. 174758 l in Lad P. DatirRyY BREEDS 19. Number of Animals Registered. Some idea of. the greatly increased interest in pure-bred cattle is shown by the rapid increase during recent years in the number of animals registered by the breed associations. Over five times as many Holsteins were recorded in the last ten years as were recorded in the previous ten years. Three times as many Guernseys, twice as many Ayrshires, and nearly twice as BREEDS OF CATTLE 17 many Jerseys were recorded as in the preceding ten years. Although the totals look large it should be taken into ac- count that the number of registrations for each breed in- cludes all since the herdbook was established. Probably not over one-third of the total registered are now living. In proportion to the total number of dairy cattle in use in the United States the number registered is very small, prob- ably less than one in fifty. Table 5 gives the number of each breed registered, also a comparison of the numbers recorded in the last ten years and in the previous ten years. TABLE 5.— NUMBERS OF ANIMALS REGISTERED * SL aa ee BEFORE x TOTAL UP ee ae BREED 1895 1895-1904 | 1905-1914 ro AES Bees bade YEARS Per Cent Jersey . . ./| 143,519} 111,782 | 197,300 | 452,601 176 Holstein. . .| 56,141 49,296 | 267,374 | 372,811 542 Guernsey .. 11,029 15,661 52,450 | 79,140 3309 Ayrshire . .| 18,306! 11,051! 26,919 | 56,276 244 20. Holstein-Friesian. This well-known breed of cattle originated in Holland and is especially well developed in the province of Friesland. It is not native, as the name Holstein would indicate, to the duchy of Holstein, which is a province of North Germany. Some of the first cattle of this breed imported to America were incorrectly called Holstein, and a breed association was organized under this name. Later another was started called the Dutch-Friesian. These two were combined in 1885 under the name Holstein- Friesian, which is the official name of the breed in this coun- try. It is now generally called Holstein in America. c *poos Ayyetoadse SUIDA YIU puB JoppN ‘yo11e gq ‘pooiq sty} Jo ueuTOeds YUeT[Eoxe UY “MOUS Arve, [RuoyeN oy} 7B wordureyo ‘Moo UBISOLI-UlSYsS[OH] — “T “OIA BREEDS OF CATTLE °19 This breed is probably one of the oldest among those in general use. Holland has been famous for its cattle since the time of the Romans. The best part of Holland is below _ the level of the ocean, which is kept back by great dikes. The land is level and very fertile and especially adapted to grass. Thecattle kept in Holland are given the best care of any cattle in the world. Attention is given to proper feed- ing, gentle handling of the animals, and to good sanitary con- ditions. Asa result Holland exceeds all other countries in the average yield of milk and butter-fat per cow. Nearly all of the Holsteins in the United States are descended from about 10,000 head which were imported between 1875 and 1885. This breed ranks first in the number of animals now being recorded. eS Holsteins are the largest of the dairy breeds, the cows reaching an average weight of 1200 pounds and the bulls 1800 to 2200 pounds as a rule. The color is always black and white in any proportion but never blended. Cows of this breed are gentle and quiet in disposition. The breed- ing qualities are excellent, as is indicated by the rapid in- crease in numbers of recorded animals. . The calves average 95 pounds at birth, the largest of any breed except the Brown Swiss. ) Holsteins produce more milk on the average than any other breed. In percentage of fat they rank the lowest. The figures in Table 6 give the averages of cows in experiment station herds. It is quite certain that these cows, on the average, do not produce any more than well-kept private herds. On a farm where good conditions of management prevail, a herd should average at least 8000 pounds of milk per year. A high average would be 10,000 pounds per year. The milk 20 DAIRY FARMING or butter from this breed has considerably less yellow color than that of Jerseys, and in fact ranks the lowest in this respect. TABLE 6.— PropucTION oF Ho.LsTEIN Cows IN EXPERIMENT StaTIon HERDs. —EEEEE avanson | NDS Pounds milk per year . ... .- 8699 83 Por Cont fat. § sie Us ic ae a eee 3.45 83 Pounds fat per year rr ee ON 300 83 Per cent total solids Ne at tee 12.29 9 The highest fat records for a year made by this breed up to April 1, 1916, were: Pounps MILK Pounps Fat Duchess Skylark Ormsby . . . . 27.762 1205 Finderne Pride Johanna Rue. . . 28,404 1176 Finderne Holingen Fayne is Palas 24,612 1116 The highest milk record was made by Tilly Alcartra, who produced 30,452 pounds of milk in a year, but she did not give as much fat as a number of other cows. In Holland, cattle of this breed are used for beef production as well as for dairy purposes. The calves are especially well adapted for veal as they are large at birth and gain rapidly during the first few weeks. When dry the cows fat- ten readily, and as is the case with other dairy breeds the gains are made as cheaply and rapidly as with animals of beef breeds. In the great cattle markets the price is always lower for animals of the dairy breeds than for those of beef breeds. There is some basis for this discrimination in the BREEDS OF CATTLE 21 fact that the dairy breeds during fattening deposit larger quantities of fat around the internal organs, and tallow is worth but little as compared with the edible meat. The - beef-bred animals deposit more of their fat in the muscular tissue giving the marbled condition so much prized. How- ever, the average meat consumer scarcely discriminates be- ) ‘tween the beef from a Holstein and that from a beef-bred animal if both be of the same age. It is safe to prophesy that, in the future, dairy cattle will supply a much larger proportion of the beef used in this country, as has long been the case on the continent of Europe. The strong points of the breed are the high milk yield, the marked vigor of constitution especially of the calves, the good breeding qualities, the quiet disposition, and the value for beef and veal. The weakest point is generally considered to be the low percentage of fat, but owing to the large yield of milk the total production of fat is high. 21. Jersey. The Jersey and the Guernsey breeds are often spoken of as the Channel Island breeds. They take their names from the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, located in the English Channel. Jersey Island is only eleven miles long and nine wide. The climate is mild and even. The cattle are pastured by tethering. The system of agriculture followed is very intensive since the average rent of the land is about $50 per acre. The sale of pure-bred Jersey cattle for export is an important source of income. Since 1789 the laws of the island have prohibited the importation of cattle, so this breed has been kept pure since that time. Much attention is given to the type of the animal as well as to the butter production. This has resulted in the development of a breed of great symmetry and beauty. At the present time this breed is used to a limited extent 22 DAIRY FARMING in England, and has been taken to all English speaking coun- tries, although by far the greatest number is now in North America. Some were brought to the United States about 1850. From 1868 to 1890 large numbers were imported, and again since 1900 several importations have been made Fic. 2. — Imported Jersey cow, Lady Viola, many times champion in the show ring. A good representative of the Island type; rather small, extreme dairy type, udder almost perfect, long level rump, very symmetrical outline. each year. This breed is most numerous in the Eastern and Southern States. The color may be any shade of yellow except orange — and ranges from light fawn to dark gray or black. The most common color is fawn shading to dark on the lower parts of the body. The tongue, and the switch of the tail are black in the majority of cases. White spots are not uncommon, especially on the lower part of the body. These were at one time strongly objected to, but now receive little atten- ~BREEDS OF CATTLE 23 tion. The color bears no relation to the value of any par- ticular cow as a dairy animal. Mature Jersey cows usually weigh from 750 to 900 pounds. Those found on Jersey Island and those recently imported are of smaller and more . refined type and are known as the Island type in contrast to the larger, coarser type descended from the early im- portations, known as the American type. © | Cows of this breed are more sensitive than many others on account of a highly developed nervous temperament. When handled gently they become very docile, when care- lessly handled or abused they are quite the reverse. They seem to thrive better than some other breeds in warm cli- mates. As meat producers they rank very low. The calves are small at birth, weighing 55 pounds on the average and they do not gain rapidly for the first few weeks. For these reasons they are not well adapted for veal. The published records of Jersey cows owned by the American experiment stations are given in Table 7. Ona farm where fairly good conditions are maintained a Jersey herd should be expected to average about 5500 pounds of milk per year containing on the average 5 per cent of fat. A high average milk yield would be 7000 pounds per cow. | TABLE 7. — PRODUCTION OF JERSEY Cows IN HERDS BELONGING To EXPERIMENT STATIONS MBER OF Cows AVERAGE Nu REPRESENTED moundsimiukper year... . . 5508 153 ena ae See 5.14 154 Pounds fat per year Beene ety oy i 283 153 Per cent total solids ehh da, Be ance 14.9 29 24 DAIRY FARMING The highest records for a year up to April 1, 1916, were: | Pounps Mink Pounps Far Sophie 19th of Hood Farm . . .- 17,558 999 Spermfield Owl’s Eva .... . 16,457 993 Kimiment’s Bess: << aoe 18,783 963 In quantity of milk the Jersey is surpassed by other — dairy breeds. In use of food for the economical production of fat the Jersey and her close relative the Guernsey are un- surpassed. The best-known characteristics of this breed are © the high percentage of fat and the yellow color of the prod- — uct. The yellow color adds nothing to the flavor or the food value of milk or cream but makes the article more attractive to the consumer. The Jersey cow is also an un- usually persistent milker which contributes to her popularity as afamily cow. This breed is best adapted for the produc- tion of cream or butter. The weakest points are a lack of vitality in the calves and lack of good breeding qualities in the cow. 22. Guernsey. This breed is a native of the island of the same name, which is the second in size of the Channel Islands. The ancestors of this breed and of the Jersey were undoubtedly the same, and in fact a century ago the two breeds were essentially alike. The conditions under which the two breeds developed are almost identical, but type has been emphasized far less than on Jersey Island. As a — result the Guernseys lack the symmetry and uniformity of — type characteristic of the Jersey. The Guernsey cow weighs about 1000 pounds on the average, or at least 100 pounds more than the Jersey, and is also coarser boned. In ‘SULI MOYS OY} UT UOTdUIBYD Useq sot} AUB sBY yey} MOO AoSUIONY Y — "Eg “OLA « > = ay © fe, S ~ > fa ma 26 DAIRY FARMING general the colors resemble those of the Jersey, but include some colors not found in that breed. The common colors are reddish yellow, or lemon, or orange-fawn, with white markings. Guernseys are probably a little slower maturing — than Jerseys, but are ready to freshen when about 24 months old. Like the Jerseys they have little adaptation for beef. TABLE 8. — PropucTIon oF GUERNSEY Cows IN EXPERIMENT STATION Herbs Raine NUMBER oF Cows REPRESENTED Pounds-milk peP year 2... 2k. 5509 17 Per cent fat Bi at Oral Saat ys 3 4.98 21 Pounds fat per year ot ea ae 274 17 Per cent total solids ye Ft 14.2 6 Records for cows belonging to experiment stations are givenin Table 8. |v pa ese § fa 4 VIM TMTN N fee ese | fas fae | ee ges fe Some \J be | 33 J (YH N oO & PTET ET GIT OI © Fic. 20. — Form for daily milk record sheet. SELECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF DAIRY CATTLE 61 The reading gives the butter-fat per 100 pounds of milk. When butter is made, some curd, salt, and considerable water remain with the fat to make up normal marketable butter. The amount of butter generally exceeds the fat by about one-sixth and may be estimated if desired by add- ing this amount to the fat. 49. Averaging Tests. -A common mistake results from averaging tests. A direct average of the tests made for a certain cow each month during the year will not be a fair average test of the total amount of milk produced during the year by this animal. This results from the fact that the amount of milk represented by each test is not the same. To find the true average test for the year the total fat yield for the period covered by the tests must be divided by the total yield of milk. The same method must be used in get- _ ting the average test for the herd. 50. Permanent Records. Many who begin keeping records do not make much of a success on account of not having a suitable form for a permanent record. Fig. 22 is a form that has been used with good satisfaction by the author for a number of years. Using a blank book, a page may be ruled for each cow. Space sufficient for several years may be provided in this way in a concise form. In pure-bred herds the pedigree and records of offspring may be put on the page opposite the milk records. 51. Cow-testing Associations. Keeping records, es- pecially of a large herd, involves considerable attention to details. To provide for this, codperative cow-testing associ- ations have been established in many places. This plan originated in Denmark in 1895, and the number of associ- ations has since increased with great rapidity. At present DAIRY FARMING 62 ‘seed oytsoddo uO SWIIOJ OY} Burovyd ‘esodind oy} 10F papna oq Avur ooq yuRvy[q B 10 ‘yea oY} JO OpIs osIaAOI oY} UO aa ‘BIT Ul UMOYS WAOF OY} YIM [44S Jeo] eSOO] UI pojULId oq UBD ‘spioYy poIq-eind 107 A]jetoedse pousisep ‘p1ooel ploy Joy WIOT — "TZ ‘PI Sets 30 SHWN | ON GUSH OMY SUN aongoud ——— } cs ss —————————— Ned eyed Ge We OL Od g3quwoo3ay on Qus}) aaddoug IaWVWA ee ene PEAT Se ign ee ae, a Peas se bere Pa ct Pi heer ERE ES Ee eae RAR IEE, 0 osaa0u0 NSHM| O3eG_uvO - SELECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF DAIRY CATTLE 63 See At tig ga ee 23.4 1.44 11.63 em othiy 42.42: h sie 38.4 1.04 19.08 Hay and dry coarse fodders: ARalt a, laggy. at hos oe ee ao tes 91.6 6.93 34.41 Clover hay —red . aroha 84.7 5.41 34.74 Corn forage — field cured as 57.8 2AS 30.537) ORM, SEONEE Se oS a eek 59.5 1.80 26.53 Cowpea Tayo be 89.3 8.57 42.76 Hiinearian nay} 224s Soe 92.3 3.00 44.03 COPAY ce cae oak e ee 84.0 2.59 36.97 Soybean haga. 6. ee eee 88.7 7.68 38.65 imo Gaya o. y ese 86.8 2.05 33.56 Straws: Ost Sra i. asa enh eS te 90.8 1.09 21:21 V6 SivaWiccnde a. seals tk > athe 92.9 .63 20.87 Wheat: Shraa® Seif ser be oe ot 16.56 Roots and tubers: COATT OES SR) Sot aay OA ats 11.4 oF 7.82 Manwels 265 =o Ss. Nat ae tae 9.1 14 4.62 Potatoes Bae ae eRe Ie tt Nein | IRS 45 18.05 uta Gams eS es BS oie 11.4 88 8.00 PETAIPS og es ie ee 9.4 eo 5.74 Grains: eee 5... Sb ae his hase ae 89.1 8.37 80.75 Corn. "2 eee he 89.1 6.79 88.84 Corn-and-cob meal SEE 08.2) ie 84.9 4.53 72.05 aR ee he so) eyed Se pha ee ee 89.0 8.36 66.27 © Pea WeIoa) 5 6, Je os eee 89.5 16574 71.75 1U. 8. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 346. 2 Owing to an error, the original publication gave the protein of corn - silage as 1.21, but .88 is correct. be err an FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 103 TapLteE 15.— Dry Marter, Dicestiste PrRoTeIN, AND ENERGY VALUES PER 100 Pounps (Continued) FEEDING STUFF Grains (Continued) : Rye . Wheat By-products : Brewers’ grain — dried . Brewers’ grain — wet Buckwheat middlings Cottonseed meal . : Distillers’ grains — dried Principally corn Principally rye . Gluten feed — dry Gluten meal — Buffalo Gluten meal — Chicago Linseed meal — old process Linseed meal — new process Malt sprouts PR ye. Sugar beet pulp — fresh Sugar beet pulp — dried Wheat bran seth Wheat middlings . Torat Dry | DiGcEstTIBLE ENERGY MATTER PROTEIN VALUES Pounds Pounds Therms 88.4 8.12 81.72 89.5 8.90 82.63 92.0 19.04 60.01 24.3 3.81 14.82 88.2 23.34 75.92 91.8 39.15 84.20 93.0 21.93 79.23 93.2 10.38 60.93 91.9 19.95 79.32 91.8 21:56 88.80 90.5 33.09 78.49 90.8 27.54 78.92 90.1 29.26 74.67 89.8 12.36 46.33 88.2 11.35 56.65 10.1 .63 4200 93.6 6.80 60.10 88.1 10.21 48.23 84.0 12.79 77.695 A good ration of roughage would be corn silage 35 pounds and clover hay 10 pounds. Using the data given in Table 15, the following calcula- tions are made: DIGESTIBLE PROTEIN Pounds woo, silage 2... (.35 xX .88) .31 10 lb. clover hay Total : (.10 x 5.41) .54 85 ENERGY VALUE Therms (.35 xX 16.56) 5.80 (.10 x 34.74) 3.47 104 DAIRY FARMING This leaves 1.45 pounds of protein and 7.23 therms of energy to be supplied by the grain. If corn is grown on the farm, we will use it as far as possible in making up the grain ration. The amounts to be used can only be found by trial. We will start with the following: corn 6 pounds, bran 3 pounds, cottonseed meal 1.5 pounds. DIGESTIBLE ENERGY PROTEIN VALUE Pounds Therms 30. pounds Gorn cage: Py gk > ck Os ae i! 5.80 16: pounds. clover hay, fio. a eee 54 3.47 O pounds Cort F.C ees ee AL 5.33 3 pounds bran’) io s.0 eae ol 1.45. _ 1.5 pounds cottonseed meal . tite ae Od 1.26 Potad: Wy WOM sais tec die ca tat ea 2.10 17.31 8 RVGQUIFOET iat es. Crh Bene Fes ees 2.30 16.50 This ration gives more energy than is necessary and is deficient in protein. Since cottonseed meal is the highest in protein we will omit 1 pound of corn and increase the cottonseed meal to 2 pounds. We then have: Dygeerimee | snarl Pounds Therms Sp-pounds corn silage 3 ee i te FS ol 5.80 IG pounds. clover Hay“... oe ee ee ee .o4 3.47 ERD OUIINES OPH 6% ic is than jek hie oe ene eee ae 4.44) BS poUnGs Tren 0 ose ta ey sas pigs 1.45 2 cottonseed meal is oe Be eA .70 1.68 Potal Wa PabON.. eM Par oe + Se ea 2.20 16.84 Required: witien na oa 2 eee 2200. | 16.50 This ration approaches the standard closely enough for practical purposes. It is not essential to have an exact FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 105 agreement with the standard, since the composition of the feed varies to some extent and the individual requirements of the animals are also subject to some variations. 93. The Cost of the Ration. In the foregoing, no atten- tion has been given to the relative cost of the feeds used in making up the ration. This question is one of great impor- tance, and must always be taken into account. In pre- paring the ration the cost should be calculated at the same time, and trial made of various combinations that offer to reduce the cost. A careful study of the figures in Table 15 will be of great assistance in the selection of the most economical ration. If the ration at hand is short in protein, and the purchase of some concentrate to supply this deficiency.is contemplated, a study should be made of the amount of digestible protein in various feedstuffs, together with the price. A good plan is to calculate the cost per pound of digestible protein to ascertain in what feed it can be purchased most economically. _ For example, if cottonseed meal costs $32 per ton, one pound of digestible protein would cost 4.6 cents, if the value out- side the protein be ignored. With bran at $20 per ton a pound of digestible protein would cost 9:8 cents, and with oats at 50 cents per bushel, or $31.25 per ton, it would be worth 18.7 cents. Under these conditions it is readily seen which feedstuff would be the cheapest source of protein for the ration deficient in that constituent. If the question is that of | providing the cheapest ration as a whole and not merely supplying a lack of protein, it is equally important to study the energy value of the several feeds as carefully as is done with the protein. It is readily seen, for example, that while bran has an energy value of 48.23 therms per 100 pounds, corn has a value of 88.84. If corn 106 DAIRY FARMING ~ and bran are the same price per pound, corn is by far. the cheaper feed. With bran at $20 per ton, a therm of energy costs 2.07 cents, while in corn at $26 per ton the same energy costs only 1.46 cents. When planning the ration to be pur- chased, or even the crop to be grown in some cases, it is well to make such calculations as suggested and determine which are the cheapest feedstuffs under the existing conditions. DISCUSSION OF COMMON FEEDSTUFFS No particular feed or combination of feeds is essential for the most economical production of milk. The first consider- ation is to grow the most suitable crops on the farm in order that the amount purchased may be as small as possible without reducing the efficiency of the ration. In the brief» discussion which follows, only the most common feedstuffs are considered. 94. Timothy Hay. The value of this hay as a feed for dairy cows is often greatly overestimated. It is unpalatable except: when cut early and therefore will not be consumed in sufficient quantities. The most serious objection is the low protein content. 95. Corn Stover. This is the name applied to dried corn stalks from which the ears have been removed. It may be utilized to a small extent. It -has the same characteristics — and objections as timothy hay, and cannot be depended upon for more than a part of the roughage. | 96. Hay from Legumes. Hay of this class is especially valuable for the dairy cow. It includes the common clovers, alfalfa, the cowpea, soybean, field pea, and other less com- mon legumes, such as vetch and crimson clover. Forage from this class of plants when properly cured is highly palatable, and contains a relatively large amount of protein. FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 107 For this reason a legume hay should by all means be grown by the dairy farmer. The ash content is also large, which is of importance, especially when fed with corn products that are low in ash. 97. Silage. It is very important that a succulent food be supplied to the cow at all times. In feeding corn silage it should be kept in mind that this of itself is not a complete ration for the cow in milk, since it is relatively high in car- bohydrates and low in protein. It is usually not advisable to feed over about 35 pounds to a small cow and 40 to 45 to a large one. It is not advisable to feed it as the only roughage. Some hay should be given. For this purpose the legumes are best adapted, on account of their high protein and ash content. | 98. Corn. Over the greater part of America, corn is the cheapest grain. In the corn belt this valuable grain is often fed to excess. On the other hand, some dairymen do not feed any of it, on account of the erroneous idea that it is not suited for milk production. Corn may be fed in reasonable quantities to any class of animals on the farm. It is es- pecially palatable for the cow in milk. However, it should not be the only grain feed. Corn is low in protein and ash content. If combined with corn stover, corn silage or timothy hay for roughage, the protein content is entirely too low for a dairy ration. Corn silage and ground corn combined with clover or alfalfa hay and bran, however, makes a good ration for general feeding. 99. Wheat Bran. Next to corn, wheat bran is the most important cow feed of this country. Its great value as a food for growing animals and cows in milk comes from the high ash and protein content. Its light, loose character also makes it a valuable addition to a heavy ration in the way 108 DAIRY FARMING of lightening up the mass so that it is easier for the digestive juices to act upon it. This is of special importance in con- nection with such feeds as cottonseed meal, that have a ten- dency to form a pasty mass in the stomach. Wheat middlings, or shorts, is a valuable feed for the cow, but it is more like corn meal in composition and prop- erties than like bran. As a rule it is better to make use of bran rather than shorts for the cow in milk. 100. Oats and Oat Products. Oats is an excellent feed for cows and growing animals when the cost is not pro- hibitive. Woll found oats to be about 10 per cent more valuable per pound than bran as feed for cows. In general, it may be said that oats are themselves an excellent feed. But if the balance of the ration is deficient in protein, oats do not contain enough protein to make up the shortage. The valuable by-products of oats are mainly from oatmeal mills, and consist of oat shorts and finely divided parts of the grain. Besides these, a much larger quantity of hulls must be disposed of by these mills. Hulls are mostly crude fiber and are about like oat straw in feeding value. The by-products of the oatmeal mills are therefore valuable, to the extent that they contain the parts of the grains. Oat hulls are used largely to form a portion of various mixed feeds. 101. Cottonseed Meal. This by-product is left after the oil is extracted from cottonseed. It contains a higher amount of protein than any other common feed. For this reason it is especially valuable for balancing rations deficient in protein, for instance those in which corn and corn products form a large proportion. It should not be fed to excess. As a rule from two to four pounds per day is the maximum. However, in the South, where it is abundant, it is fed in much larger quantities with good results. FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 109 102. Linseed Meal. This valuable feed is the residue after linseed oil is extracted from flaxseed. It ranks next ; to cottonseed meal in protein, and on the market usually sells for a little more. It seems to exert a very favorable effect upon animals of all kinds. Like cottonseed meal, it is especially valuable as a means of supplying the protein usually lacking in the farm-grown ration. 103. Gluten Feed. This is a by-product from starch and glucose factories. It consists of the corn grain after the starch is extracted. In protein content it ranks about midway between bran and oil meal, and is a palatable and valuable feed. 104. Beet Pulp and Molasses. Formerly beet pulp was fed to cattle in the neighborhood of beet-sugar factories, but now much of it is dried. The feeding value of dried beet pulp is a little less per pound than corn, which it resembles in the relative amount of protein and carbohydrates present. It swells greatly when moistened and cannot be pressed into a compact mass. For this reason it is easily digested and is valuable to lighten up a grain ration that otherwise would form a mass in the stomach not easily penetrated by the digestive juices. Low-grade molasses is another by-product of cane and beet-sugar factories. It is often sold in combination with other feeds, such as beet pulp and alfalfa hay, and sometimes with nearly worthless materials such as peanut hulls, weed seeds, cocoa waste, or peat moss. Molasses serves a useful purpose in making unpalatable feeds more readily consumed. Unfortunately it is too often used to disguise material of little or no feeding value. 105. Brewers’ Grains. Fresh brewers’ grains are fed in large quantities where they may be hauled directly from the 110 DAIRY FARMING brewery. Considerable objection has been raised by city health authorities to the use of this feed. If fed in moderate amounts under proper sanitary conditions, it is not ob-— jectionable. However, the use of it is so often abused that officials in some localities have found it easier to prohibit the use than to regulate it. The objection comes from feeding these grains exclusively, from allowing decomposi- tion to begin before feeding, and from the very objection- able sanitary conditions that exist if special care is not taken to keep the feed boxes, feeding troughs, and, in fact, the entire stable, clean. This feed should not be used in excess of twenty pounds per day, and should be supplemented with hay and some other grain, such as corn. The greater part of the brewers’ grains now produced are dried, and in this form may be transported long distances. This feed is rich in protein. Four or five pounds may be used in the ration to advantage. At present the larger part of this by-product finds a market in Europe. 106. Mixed Feeds. No small proportion of the grain supplied the dairy cows of the United States is in the form of mixed feeds. As a class, mixed feed is to be looked upon with suspicion. Where the unmixed grains and by-products may be bought on the market, it is always safer to purchase them and to make such mixtures as may be best to supple- ment the available farm feeds. The main purpose of the manufacturers or dealers in putting feed mixtures on the market is to dispose of material of inferior quality or of some by-product of little or no value. One of the most common ingredients of mixed feeds is oat hulls, from oatmeal factories. In many cases the hulls are ground fine to escape detection, and the claim is made that ground oats is a part of the mixture. Grain: soe a PSR Ee ee ee Gain’ per day:. 66.0%. se a ee Total cost of feed’ 2; *.0- Se, amet es ee $11.75 The Illinois Experiment Station conducted an experiment to determine the minimum amount of milk necessary to raise a calf. Milk feeding was continued to the age of from 42 to 56 days. Whole milk was fed the first three weeks followed by skim-milk up to the age of eight weeks. It was concluded that it is advisable to feed milk long enough to give the calves a good start. After the age of eight weeks the calves thrived on grain and hay. The grain ration was a mixture of corn, 4 parts; oats, 4 parts; and bran and lin- seed oil meal, 1 part each. The total amounts fed per animal ~ were whole milk, 134 pounds; skim-milk, 422 pounds. The total value of the milk used was $4.62 for each calf.! These results show clearly that the milk can be reduced to an amount that does not make the cost of raising the calf excessive. When grain is substituted for milk under the conditions discussed, it must not be expected that the calf will appear as fat and thrifty as one receiving milk. How- ever, there is no reason for believing that the dairy qualities of the cow are injured in any way. If a good ration is fed as the calf grows older, it will make up any deficiency in size that may result from the lack of more milk in the ration when young. 1 Tllinois Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 164. FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 119 112. Feeding for Veal. To make a good veal requires liberal feeding of fresh whole milk. So far no substitute for whole milk has been found for this purpose. The best quality of veal is produced when the animal receives nothing but whole milk and is slaughtered at the age of two months. The regulation of the United States Government for inter- state commerce requires that the calf be at least three weeks old before being put on the market. Many cities also have regulations regarding either the age or the weight of veal calves. Where such regulations are not enforced the ten- dency is to market the calves younger than this age, since when milk is high priced, the younger the calf is sold the greater the profit. The first question to be answered is whether the calf can be raised profitably for veal. It often happens, especially with the breeds having small calves, that the milk fed is worth more than the market value of the calf when sold. For this reason some do not attempt to raise the calf for veal but destroy those not wanted for bréeding purposes at birth. TaBLE 16. — FEED CONSUMED AND GaIN First 30 Days WEIGHT pes Pounps | Pounps AT AVERAGE No END oF Mixx | MILK PER BREED BIRTH DalILy . eee lire | E90) Gar :| SL ee Jersey Reig eees) 10 49 88.9 | 1.33 376 9.42 Trolsteimn.- xs. 8 83 127.0 1.47 441 10.02 PVePenIrae: o.. 6s a 70 107.0 1.23 344 9.31 The average daily gain of a dairy-bred calf is from 1.2 to 2 pounds during the first few weeks. About 10 pounds of whole milk are required for each pound of gain. The data 120 DAIRY FARMING in Table 16 show the average gain and weight for calves of three breeds as found by the author. 113. Feeding the Dairy Heifer. No special difficulties are experienced in raising heifer calves from the time of weaning until they come into milk. If pasturing is practiced, no further attention or additional feed is necessary so long as the grass is abundant. The winter ration should consist of a good quality of roughage with a small amount of grain. A good ration is corn silage and clover or alfalfa hay, with a grain allowance of about 2 or 3 pounds daily per animal. — A more liberal grain ration will cause a more rapid growth of the young animals and earlier maturity. It is possible by heavy grain feeding to have a heifer as mature at the age of 18 months as another fed entirely on roughage is at 24 months. Liberal feeding during the growing period and the better condition of the animal which follows result in a larger milk yield during the first year than is the case when less is fed. The size of the animal when mature is influenced to some extent by the manner of feeding during the growing period. In experiments by the author, heifers fed a liberal ration measured over an inch more in height when mature than did heifers fed a ration with less nutrients.!. At the age of 18 months the difference was nearly 3.5 inches, but the group receiving the lighter ration continued to grow for several months after the heavier fed group had ceased grow- ing. The lighter fed group, however, remained slightly smaller. Another factor that has some influence on the size of the cow when mature is the age at which she comes into milk. A heifer that freshens at an early age, for example, 20 to 22 months for a Jersey, and 22 to 24 for a Holstein, will not develop into so large an animal as she would if she’ 1 Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 135. 121 FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 190q SVY YJMOIS JOFF *10}UTM oY} OJ ATIEp spunod cy* sem ures IoFy B poAlovel JUS oy} UO 9UO OUT, ysoyf jo uoryrpuoo redoid oy} UT ST 4JoT OY} WO VU OY, “IO}JUIM OY} SutNp Ayrep spunod T ‘YVYMOUIOS poyxooyo ‘a[qeiisop St ULY} JOUUTY} SI pUB UOTPVI JUOLOWIP [ poures sey 94S ‘pesiq Airep ® Jo Jojloy B 10F ‘SulIds oY} Ul SSVI UO OS OF Apvol siojtoy Burpee Xk — “PE “Ol 122 DAIRY FARMING were somewhat older. The difference will not be very marked unless the animal has also been fed a light ration up to this time and is therefore immature for the age. Heavy grain feeding when young, accompanied by late breeding, will develop a heifer to her maximum size. A ration that does not supply an abundance of food in an easily digestible form, as, for example, hay and silage alone, together with early calving will result in a slower growth of the animal and a somewhat smaller size at maturity. The best practice to follow is one between these two ex- tremes. A heifer fed exclusively on roughage is too slow in reaching maturity, while the heavy feeding of grain is too expensive. A good development can be had by feeding P good roughage together with about 2 or 3 pounds of grain ~ per day during the winter season. The figures in Table 17, as found by the writer, will be of assistance to the farmer who wishes to know whether his young animals are being fed so that their development is up to the average of the breed. TABLE 17. — AVERAGE HEIGHT AND WEIGHT oF Datry HEIFERS JERSEYS HOLSTEINS AGE , Hie a) wetat | eee Inches Pounds Inches Pounds 6 months Ey ee’ 265 40.8 350 9 months 41.2 378 43.4 444 12 months 43.4 468 45.6 548 15 months 45.2 556 47.4 620 18 months 47.0 598 48.8 710 24 months 48.4 750 50.0 900 FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 128 Sufficient data are not at hand for the Guernsey and Ayrshire breeds, but they fall between the two breeds given. It is well to breed the heifer. so that she will come into milk at 24 to 26 months of age if a Jersey or Guernsey, and at 28 to 30 months if a Holstein or an Ayrshire, the variations suggested being made to allow for the size of the animal. The milking tendency of the cow when mature is not in- fluenced to any appreciable extent by any ordinary variations in the ration fed during the growing period. The dairy characteristic of a cow is a matter of inheritance and does -not seem to be influenced to any great extent by over- or under- feeding when a heifer. In experiments by the author with over 40 animals some of the best milk producers, as well as some of the worst, were in a group fed excessively from birth to first calving. Another group. receiving a light ration up to calving time showed the same variation in quality.! 114. Sait Requirements. All animals that consume large quantities of vegetable food require salt. It is not merely an appetizer but a necessity. Animals that live upon meat do not have this craving. A cow kept without salt shows a strong craving for it during the first few weeks, then quiets down into an emaciated condition of low vitality, which will result in a complete breakdown after several months. The amount of salt needed varies with the amount of feed consumed. A dry cow needs about .75 ounce per day. The cow in milk needs the same amount for maintenance and in addition about .6 ounce per day for each 20 pounds of milk. The amount required therefore for cows yielding from 20 to 30 pounds of milk per day is about 1.5 ounces. Salt may be supplied by mixing the proper amount regularly in the feed or it may be placed where the animal can have access 1 Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 135. 124 DAIRY FARMING to it. If the cattle run out every day, the best way to salt them is to keep a constant supply in a box in the yard. The plan of salting the cattle at intervals of one or two weeks is not to be recommended. | 115. Feeding the Cow when Dry. The milk yield of a cow throughout her entire lactation period is influenced by her condition of flesh at calving time. For good results it is very important that she be in good flesh at this time. A high producer will yield fully 20 per cent more during the © year if in good order at calving time. Less trouble is also experienced when the calf is born. All mammals naturally take on flesh before the young is born. ‘This reserve store of food is needed to aid in the production of milk. We expect a dairy cow to give several times as much milk as the calf requires. The importance of her being fat is there- fore all the greater. The grain given to a dry cow is not lost. It is used to store up fat in the body for the purpose of milk production. If when a good cow is dry, she is fed sufficient grain to get her in good flesh, it is just as sure to be returned in milk as is the grain fed when the cow is giving milk. The astonishing records of milk and fat production obtained within recent years from cows under official test are due in no small measure to a realization of the importance of having the cow well fed before freshening and in a high state of flesh. The feeding of the cow when dry will depend upon her condition when milking ceases. If in good flesh, only a little more than a maintenance ration should be given. If not in good condition, a more liberal ration is advisable, suffi- cient to insure her being in good flesh when she freshens. The character of the ration fed at this time need not vary materially from that given to the cows in milk. Good pas- FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 125 ture, legume hay, and roots or silage are adapted for use as roughage. As the time for freshening approaches, the cow should by all means have a laxative ration if she has not been reéeiving it before; if on pasture, no special atten- tion is called for in this respect. The cow should have ex- ercise, and nothing is better than freedom in a smooth pas- ture or freedom in a barnyard in winter. FEEDING THE Cow. IN MILK 116. Water for Cows. Large amounts of water are necessary for producing the milk itself and for the digestion and assimilation of the larger quantities of feed required to make it. The author found by experiments that a cow producing 27 pounds of milk per day drank 77 pounds of water. The same cow when dry drank only 15 pounds per - day. Another cow producing over 100 pounds of milk per _ day used an average of 250 pounds of water. These figures - show that the water requirement is in proportion to the _ milk produced and the food consumed. They also show that the question of water supply is much more important for the cow in milk than for the dry cow. Dry cows need not be watered more than once daily in winter time and do not seem to want it oftener. During the summer the demand for water is greater on account of the greater evaporation from the skin. Cows on heavy feed, producing large quan- tities of milk, should always have access to water at least twice daily. For the best results, water of good quality should be supplied close at hand, since if the animals are required to walk long distances in cold weather, they may not drink a sufficient amount and the milk flow may be reduced for this reason. Water contaminated by drainage from barnyards or with sewage should be avoided for sanitary reasons, as 126 DAIRY FARMING well as for the additional reason that cows may not drink as much as is needed for the best results. In very cold climates it is profitable to warm the water for dairy cows. It is cheaper to warm the water with a tank heater by burning coal or wood than to supply the necessary heat by allowing the animal to burn high-priced feed in its body for this purpose. A cow producing 25 pounds of milk daily requires about 1 pound of corn daily to warm the water used if it be given at the freezing point. Larger producers would require a correspondingly larger amount for this pur- pose. An even more important reason for warming water is that a heavy-milking cow will not drink enough water if it is near the freezing temperature. The activities of the organs of digestion and milk secretion are almost stopped for a while if a cow drinks 30 or 40 pounds of ice water. Where water is warmed it is generally brought to a tempera- ture of about 60° F. 117. Turning on Pasture. Cattle are pastured in summer. over the greater part of this country and every owner of a cow welcomes the time when the cow may be turned out to pasture. In changing from dry to green feed it is best to go somewhat slowly, especially with heavy-milking cows. The young immature grasses are mostly water and it.is almost impossible for a heavy-milking cow to eat enough to supply the necessary nutrients. | Another reason for making the change slowly is the effect upon the taste of the milk. When a cow is changed suddenly from grain to grass, the milk may be given a strong taste; while if this change is made gradually, little or no change in taste is noticed. A common mistake is to pasture too closely in the fall and — to turn out too early in the spring. The cows should be ‘ FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 1oF kept off the pasture until the grass is well started. Grass can only grow by having leaves above the ground in contact with the air and sunshine. If the cattle are turned out to graze while the grass is very short, its growth is slow since it has no chance to get enough leaves to prepare its food. 118. Feeding Grain while on Pasture. The cow that produces a small quantity will give but little if any more if fed grain while on pasture. However, with the very heavy- producing cow the case is quite different, and it is necessary that she be fed some grain or she will not continue long on the high level of milk production. The high-producing cow cannot eat and digest a sufficient amount of grass to supply the necessary nutrients and must have some concentrated feed in order to continue to produce large quantities of milk. Experiments made by the Cornell University Experiment Station covering four years showed that while an increase of milk yield was obtained from grain feeding it was not economical to produce it in this way. Only about one addi- tional pound of milk was obtained for each pound of grain fed. In these experiments the pasture furnished an abun- dance of grasses. It was observed, however, that the cows that had grain during the summer gave better results after the grazing season was over than those that received no grain. This is also a matter of common observation by dairymen and should be taken into account in considering the question of summer feeding. The practice of the writer in regard to grain _ feeding on pasture is represented in the following statement : Jersey or Guernsey cow, producing: 20 pounds milk daily 2 pounds grain daily 25 pounds milk daily 3 pounds grain daily 30 pounds milk daily 6 pounds grain daily 35 pounds milk daily 8 pounds grain daily 128 DAIRY FARMING Holstein, Shorthorn, or Ayrshire, producing : 25 pounds milk daily - 2 pounds grain daily 30 pounds milk daily 3 pounds grain daily 35 pounds milk daily 5 pounds grain daily 40 pounds milk daily . 7 pounds grain daily It must be kept in mind that this applies only when pas- tures are abundant. When a small amount of grain is fed as a supplement to pasture, little attention is necessary as to the relative amount of protein and carbohydrates that it contains. When corn is the cheapest grain, it may be fed © alone if desired. Any mixture of common concentrates serves the purpose, since it is total digestible nutrients that is needed and the protein is usually supplied in ample amounts by the grass. When larger amounts of grain are fed, more care must be taken to have enough protein. 119. Providing for Periods of Short Pasture. Unfortu- nately the season of abundant pastures is often short. In many localities a dry period of several weeks often occurs — at times during the summer season. It is probable that as much loss occurs. from improper feeding at such times as is caused by improper feeding during the winter. As long — as the cows are on pasture, and other work is pressing, the farmer is inclined to let the cows get along the best they cam. It is well known to all experienced dairymen that if a cow is once allowed to decline in her milk production, it is difficult to bring her back to normal. To make a large profit from the cow, a large yearly production must be had and to obtain this ordinarily requires that the flow of milk — be kept up for 10 months out of the year. It is possible to ‘ supplement short pasture by the feeding of grain, but this is j as a rule unnecessarily expensive. It will pay, however, if ; no other feed is available. Provision for short pasture is 3 FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 129 best made either by having green crops on hand that may be cut for feed, or by feeding silage or alfalfa hay during this period. The use of green crops cut and taken to the animals is known as the soiling system. In recent years the use of corn silage for summer feeding is meeting with the greatest favor and promises to displace the practice of soiling to a large extent, because it is much less expensive. For summer feeding a silo of small diameter is recommended in order that the silage may be fed fast enough to prevent spoiling. If the silage is not needed it can be kept for winter use. 120. Amount to Feed. One of the most common mistakes made in feeding cows is in not feeding them enough. If a cow does not respond in milk yield when well fed, she should be sold. The cheapest production is obtained from a high- producing cow well fed. The cow may be looked upon as a milk-producing machine, which we supply with the raw material in the form of feed. This raw material is manu- factured into milk. The same rule holds as with any manu- facturing plant; it is run most economically near its full ‘capacity. One should understand that, first of all, the animal must use a certain amount of its food to maintain the body. This is called the ration of maintenance and is practically the same whether the animal is being utilized for full capacity or merely being kept without producing any milk. at all. About 50 per cent of all the feed she can consume is used by a medium dairy cow for this purpose. It is evident that after going to this expense it is the poorest economy to re- fuse to give the other 50 per cent of a full ration, which would be used entirely for milk production. Since only half of a full ration is available for making milk, it is clear that if through mistaken ideas of economy the cow is fed 75 per cent of a full ration the amount she has available for producing K & 130 DAIRY FARMING milk is reduced 50 per cent. The heavy-milking cow is the one most commonly underfed. It is often observed that heavy-milking cows rapidly get thin in flesh after calving and may drop greatly in the amount of milk within a short time. This is the result of underfeeding. If a certain cow has a capacity to produce only 25 pounds of milk daily and is al- ready receiving enough feed for this amount, it is a waste of feed to increase her ration as she will not correspondingly increase in milk. If a cow of this type is given more feed than she needs, she uses part of it for laying on fat and soon commences to appear smooth and beefy. The practical question arises then as to what means may be employed to determine how much feed a certain cow needs. The most accurate plan is to calculate the ration according to the feed- ing standard as described in paragraph 92. There are in addition certain observations that may be made the basis of practical feeding operations. One is the condition of the animal in regard to flesh. The inclination to give milk is so strong in a good cow that when underfed she will continue for some time to give more than is provided for by her ration and will supply the remaining material that is required from her body. This results in a gradual loss in weight. When a cow in milk loses weight, it means that she is underfed and unless her. ration is increased soon she will drop materially in milk yield. On the other hand if a cow in milk is gaining in weight, it is evident that she is getting more feed than she is using and her ration may be cut down. Another suggestion is to note carefully the amount of milk the cow produces at her best, which will be within a short time after calving. Then be sure to feed enough to sup- port this amount of milk production. Later, as she declines, a FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 131 due to the advance in the lactation period, reduce the feed to correspond to the decline in milk. The following rules serve as a general guide for practical feeding : 1. Feed all the roughage the cows will eat up clean at all times. 2. Feed 1 pound of grain per day for each pound of fat produced per week, or 1 pound of grain per day for each 3 pounds of milk produced by Jersey; 34 by Ayrshire; and 4 by Holstein. 3. Feed all that the cows will take without gaining in weight. It is best to become accustomed to thinking in terms of weight rather than in terms of measure in calculating rations and feeding dairy cows. It is often more convenient when feeding to measure than to weigh the feed. The most prac- tical plan generally is to feed with a measure and weigh the feed mixture used often enough to make it possible to esti- mate closely how much is required by measure to give the weight desired. 121. The Balanced Ration. The most common mistake made in feeding dairy cows, next to underfeeding, is giving too little protein. This mistake is especially common in the corn-belt on account of the wide use of corn and timothy hay, both very deficient in protein. Where alfalfa hay is fed the ration nearly always has enough protein. A milking cow must use a certain amount of protein, and no other material can take its place. A ration is said to be balanced when the protein and carbohydrates are in the right pro- portion. It is not possible to make a good ration by using corn and timothy hay unless large quantities of mill feeds rich in 132 DAIRY FARMING protein are fed. In formulating a ration the roughage is the first consideration, since the character of this portion largely determines the kind of grain to be fed. The cheapest source of protein is generally leguminous hay, such as clover, alfalfa, or cowpea. If an abundance of any one of these can be grown, the problem of making an economical ration is greatly simplified. If alfalfa hay is fed, it is not necessary to use concentrates that are rich in proteins. If mixed hay and corn silage are used, at least one-third of the grain should be rich in protein. Bae 122. Succulent Feed. In order to obtain the best re- © sults it is necessary to have a portion of the ration of a suc- culent character. This term is applied to feeds that contain much water, such as green grass, corn silage, roots, and _ cabbage. Such feeds seem to have a value outside of the actual nutrients they contain on account of the favorable effect upon the digestion of the animal. In the corn-belt, corn silage furnishes the cheapest and best succulent feed for winter. In other sections, especially north of the corn- belt, the growing of root crops is generally practicable. They supply this desirable element of the ration in an entirely satisfactory form. | 123. Palatability of the Ration. An animal will give better results if it relishes its ration.. Sometimes even if a feed containing enough nutrients is offered, a sufficient amount is not eaten on account of a lack of palatability. Hay and other coarse feeds show the most variation in this respect, depending upon time of cutting and manner of curing. It is advisable to have the grain composed of a mixture of two kinds or more as this increases palatability. A ration for very high-producing cows should be a mixture of five or six feedstuffs. Succulent feeds are always palatable and FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 133 they aid digestion by keeping the animal in good condition. When a good ration has been selected there is no reason for change for the sake of variety. If the animal craves a change in ration, it is an indication that the ration it has been receiv- ing is deficient in some particular. 124. Order of Feeding. Regularity in feeding is of 3 greater importance than any special routine. The common practice is to feed twice daily giving about one-half the grain and roughage at each feed. The grain is generally fed first and the hay feeding reserved until the milking is done to avoid having dust in the barn. Silage should also be fed after milking to prevent possible odors in the milk. The cow readily becomes accustomed to a certain routine and this should not be varied any more than is absolutely neces- sary. She may be accustomed to receive grain either before or after milking, or be easily taught to demand it while the milking is being done. -Freping Cows FoR THE MAxImMuM PRODUCTION IN OFFICIAL TESTS 125. Obtaining the Maximum Production. The maxi- mum production is obtained from high-producing cows by a combination of expert handling and the best possible ration. Such cows cannot be fed entirely by any rule, nor can their ration be calculated by a formula. The individual animal and her characteristics must be taken into account. One of the essential things is having the animal in the proper condition of flesh at calving. She should be dry for two months or more for the best results, and be fed a liberal amount of grain during this period. Some form of suc- culence is absolutely necessary as a part of the ration. Roots, such as common beets, sugar beets, or mangels are 134 DAIRY FARMING even better than silage for this purpose, and may be fed up to 50 pounds or more per day. The cow must be brought up to the full ration carefully after calving, using about three weeks for this purpose. The grain ration should consist of a mixture of several concen- trates, all of which are palatable. So long as the animal re- mains in normal condition, no change in the grain ration is necessary. Special attention must be given to the physical condition of the cow. A careful herdsman always closely observes the character of the dung excreted, and learns to judge when the digestion is normal. At the first indication of lack of a keen appetite the ration is cut down until the animal is again in condition to utilize the full amount. If the digestion gives indication of even slight disorder, a purgative, such as Epsom salts, 1 to 14 pounds at a dose, should be administered at once. The grain should always be eaten with a relish, and the animal should show a disposition to want a little more than she receives. A ration for a heavy-milking cow must be rich in protein. Much more grain should be fed in proportion to the roughage than with an ordinary producer. In fact, for the maximum production of a great producer, the nutrients will need to be largely supplied by con- centrates. The following daily ration was fed by the writer to a Jersey cow that was producing daily 40 pounds of milk, containing 2 pounds of fat. The cow weighed about 900 pounds and produced during the year 13,895 pounds of milk and 680 pounds of fat. The same grain mixture was fed during the greater part of the milking period, including the pasture season. FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 135 E PounpDs NUE Ra i iad 2h hag S|) wa rewind oe EURMMNRMPEN Dee eT et. es ee oy DURING eres a ele ED PUK fost. cok a a ah IS OL i a $3 Oil meal ee or SA AAPY or. SME ea, eee heed Total roughage per ae Rig ts Racy cee Pema Mer Gay ce: sk a Ge ee ADD A Holstein cow under charge of the author was fed the following amounts daily while producing an average of 100 pounds of milk daily. Pounpbs ESSE, ELS 2 UES SS SO (5 Alfalfa hay 0 Wee's Hiei ee ae Pere ee Dried beet pulp nates 4. Corn meal 6.1 Peete ey? nt rn ert Sg) Ok Oats . GEG ae a Sh ey ie a heel: 0 Gluten fon: 1.9 Linseed meal 1.9 Cottonseed meal Epes semi ok re) itents B28 fe Ls more roueares oy oe Ne a By G@ereromeoniraies.. ~.. - b) . erees e 28: ‘The grain ration was prepared by mixing 100 pounds each of corn, bran, and oats, and 30 pounds each of the last three named above. One pound of dried beet pulp was added to six pounds of the grain mixture and the entire mass moistened with water some time before feeding. The cow was fed and milked four times each twenty-four hours. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Distinguish between composition of a feed, digestible nutri- ents, and production value. 2. Define concentrate, succulent, roughage, corn stover. 3. What succulent winter feeds are used in your region? 4. What common feeds of your region are high in protein? 136 DAIRY FARMING 5. Calculate the amounts of corn and clover hay required to maintain a cow weighing 1000 pounds. 6. Find the amount of protein and energy required for a 1250- pound cow producing 40 pounds of milk daily, containing 3.5 per cent of fat. 7. From the feeds in Table 15, calculate a ration that will sat- isfy the conditions in problem 6. How does the ration agree with the standards on page 304? 8. Find the protein and energy in the following rations: Ration 1 7 Ration 2 Corn silage’.> 22.03." aes Timothy hay . ..°:. \-ae ieee Altalia hay 0-095, 03-0. Corn fodder .. . -. 1 203 Gorn 6.270) Se =e 6 ee Gorn... 6 ees ee ee Cottonseed meal... =. LIb. Bran. 06 io 4 ee What is the limiting factor in the second ration? For how much 3.5 per cent milk does each ration supply protein in addition to maintaining a 1000-pound cow? 9. Calculate a ration for a 900-pound Jersey cow giving 23 pounds of milk daily, using the common feeds of the region. 10. When bran is worth $20, cottonseed meal $30, clover hay $10 per ton; and corn 70 cents, and oats 50 cents per bushel, find which — is the cheapest source of protein. Which is the cheapest source of energy? ; 11. Obtain the local prices of purchased feeds in the region, Which is the cheapest source of energy? Of protein? 12. With prices given in problem 11, calculate the cheapest possible satisfactory ration for a Shorthorn cow weighing 1200 pounds and giving 30 pounds of milk daily. 13. Is skim-milk usually available for calf feeding in this region? What are the common ealf feeds used ? 14. Let each student find the approximate amounts of milk and other feeds used in raising a calf to six months of age for his own farm or some other farm. At normal prices, what is the feed worth? Have all these reports compared and averaged. Compare with — results on pages 115, 250 and 252. 15. Proceed in a similar manner to find the usual method of feed- ing heifers in the region. | 16. What is the usual date for turning cows to pasture in your region? About what times are they taken off of pasture in the FEEDING DAIRY CATTLE 137 fall? At what time are the pastures not likely to furnish enough feed ? 17. What effect does the manner of feeding the heifer have on the amount of milk that she is likely to give as a heifer? As a ma- ture cow? 18. What conclusion would you draw from observing that a cow when giving milk was gradually getting thinner? What con- clusion if she were gaining in flesh? LABORATORY EXERCISES 9. Raising a Calf. Let each student who can arrange to do so, raise a calf, following the directions that apply to the conditions. Keep track of all the feed used, and see if the calf can be raised at less than the usual cost. This is particularly important in regions where whole milk is sold. 10. Study of Feeding on a Dairy Farm. Obtain permission to visit a dairy farm, preferably one where the farmer has scales that will weigh cattle; or students may do this work for herds on their home farms. A spring balance and tape measure will be required. Make a list of the cows in the herd, and find out the following facts about each. Or if the herd is too large, use five or six cows that are giving different amounts of milk. Each student may do the work for one cow. Cow 1 Cow 2 | Cow 3 | Cow 4 Age. Breed . Weight Pounds milk Per cent fat . Protein for maintenance . Protein for milk Total Protein of food . Energy for maintenance . Energy for milk Total al _ Energy of food. . - Gaining or losing flesh eee —_—__—.,_—_. 0O—weere—e—e—e—rw——— 138 DAIRY FARMING How much milk is each giving? If the farmer does not know, arrangements can be made to have one student or the farmer weigh the milk for one or two days. What mixture of grain is fed? ‘How much grain is each getting? If the farmer does not know the weight of a day’s feed, he can measure out what he is using and this can be weighed. What does the grain mixture weigh per quart? In the same way the amounts of silage and other feeds may be obtained. Weigh each cow. Ask the farmer’s opinion as to which cows are gaining and which losing in flesh. Obtain samples of milk for each cow, and test for fat. Calculate the amount of energy and protein for maintenance of each cow, the amount necessary for milk production, and the amount in the feed. The results may be summarized in a table like the one shown on page 137. Does it seem probable that any one of the cows is not obtaining enough protein or enough energy? Are there practical ways in which the ration may be cheapened by using different feeds? It may be that the farmer will be willing to experiment with increasing _ or decreasing the feed or with using a different mixture. If he is willing to do so, the results should be followed carefully. 11. Raising Heifers. Obtain measurements of a number of heifers, and compare with the results on page 122. COLLATERAL READING Computing Rations for Farm Animals by Use of Energy Values, U.S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 346. Handling and Feeding Silage, U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 578. The Feeding of Farm Animals, U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulle- tin 22. Feeding Skim-milk Calves, U. S: Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 233, pp. 22-25. Feeds and Feeding, Henry and Morrison. Cyclopedia of American Agriculture, L. H. Bailey, Vol. III, pp. 56-118, 308, 310, 313-317. The Feeding of Animals, W. H. Jordan. Dairy Cattle and Milk Production, C. H. Eckles, pp. 254-294. CHAPTER 6 THE DAIRY BARN C. H. EckiEs It is only within recent years that the arrangement and construction of the dairy barn has been given the attention that its importance justifies. It pays to have a comfortable Fig. 35. — Interior of a well-arranged barn. barn on account of the larger production of milk which re- sults. The arrangement of the barn is also an important factor in efficient use of labor and in keeping the workers contented. There is a growing demand for better sanitary conditions surrounding the milk supply, and this means 139 140 DAIRY FARMING that barns must be constructed with more attention to those details that make it possible to keep milk clean. 126. General Arrangement of Barns. ‘The style of barn construction will necessarily vary with the locality, climate, and many other factors. The interior arrangements of the cow barn, however, may be much the same in barns differ- ing widely in general plan of construction. The most com- mon arrangement of dairy cows in a barn is in two rows, 82-0" Be ~---44-F-FER--— ALLEY — SS [ a ET ST ES | / 70, CO S\TA)LL)S JO, & S/7A Sj UiperD ALLEY . vend ee pe (oes Bs NS . =a \ bt 3sé- 10 O The calf at first appears merely lame and stiff. Swellings will usually be formed on some part of the body, and when these are rubbed a peculiar crackling sound is noticed resulting from the gas that has formed ‘in the tissue. When the calf is examined after death the affected quarter will be found to be congested with dark blood and almost black in color, which condition. gives rise to the common name of the disease. It is useless to attempt to treat the animals already affected. When a case occurs, those not sick should be vaccinated at once. There is then little danger that the trouble will spread. In localities where the disease is common, vaccination should be practiced on all calves, as a preventive, without waiting for the disease to appear. The vaccine used for the pur- pose may be purchased and applied by the owner himself, or a veterinary surgeon may be employed if the owner ise fers. 151. Sorghum and Kafir Corn Poisoning. Sorghum and kafir corn are important forage crops in that part of the country bordering on the semiarid. Under certain conditions these plants develop a poison, which is frequently the cause of losses of stock, especially cattle. The danger occurs when the: growth of the crop is checked by dry weather and at times in second growth sorghum or kafir. The trouble occurs only when the animal eats the green plant. The damage usually happens when the stock break through the fences and eat the green crop in the field, although occasionally cattle are turned into such a field by some one who is ignorant of the possible ~ COMMON AILMENTS OF CATTLE 165 danger. Death will sometimes occur within half an hour after the food is eaten. As small a quantity as two pounds sometimes causes death. The Nebraska Experiment Station! records a case where 21 cows out of 32 died within an hour after being turned into a field of stunted kafir corn. When these crops are put into the silo or made into hay for some reason the dan- ger disappears. Little can be done to treat an animal af- fected. In fact, as a rule the animal is dead before the owner knows it is sick. Prevention, by excluding stock from such fields during seasons when the presence of the poison is suspected, is the only safe course. 152. Corn-stalk Disease. In the states of the Middle West, where corn is grown in large quantities, the common practice is to husk the corn from the standing stalks and leave the stalks in the field. Later the cattle are turned into the field to gather as much of the stalks and leaves as they will utilize. Stalk fields are generally pastured during the early part of the winter. Frequent losses of cattle occur during the time they are given access to the stalk fields. The ailment is known as the corn-stalk disease. It most commonly occurs during periods of cold or wet weather and . always after the stalks have become thoroughly dry. The trouble usually occurs during. the first few days after the cattle are put into the stalk field. — The disease appears suddenly. The animal afflicted is reluctant to move and when forced to do so shows an un- steady gait. Later there are indications of severe pain such as kicking towards the body, bellowing, and moaning. The animal may froth at the mouth and attempt to attack any one coming near. Death usually occurs within one or two 1 Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 77. 166 DAIRY FARMING days. All attempts to find the specific cause of the disease have so far failed. It has been proved that smut in corn is not the cause. Those who have given the subject most attention believe the trouble is the result of acute indiges- tion caused by eating too much coarse indigestible food. It is possible that under certain conditions some poisonous substance is developed in the stalks. No satisfactory medical treatment has been found. As with many other diseases, attention has to be directed to- wards prevention. Cattle should always be watered and well fed before being turned into a stalk field for the first time, and some laxative food, such as alfalfa or clover hay, should be given daily. Plenty of water should be readily accessible. The animals should be turned into the field for only a short time the first day, gradually lengthening the time each day as they become accustomed to the feed. Fortunately this trouble does not occur from feeding corn fodder cut and shocked in the field, or from corn put in the silo. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Let each student make a list of as many cases of deaths of cattle in the community as he ean find, giving the cause of death and telling whether a calf, cow, steer, or bull. Combine these re- ports to find the comparative number of deaths from each disease. 2. What is the cause of each of the. diseases found? How may each be controlled ? 3. Similarly report on as many cases as possible of cows that were © sold or slaughtered, giving the reason why they were discarded. LABORATORY EXERCISES 13. Miscellaneous Exercises. If possible make arrangements to do the following work with a cow that is not very valuable. A clini- cal thermometer, drenching bottle, carbolic acid, teat plugs, and milk tube will be required. COMMON AILMENTS OF CATTLE 167 Each student should learn how to perform the following operations : Take the temperature. Take the pulse. Count the respiration. Give the cow a drench of pure water in order to learn the method. Prepare a 2 per cent solution of carbolic acid. Insert a teat plug after sterilizing it with the carbolic acid solu- tion. Insert a milking tube after sterilizing it. 14. Treatment for Lice. Prepare a kerosene emulsion by the direction given on page 161. If possible arrange to use this on a herd that needs it. COLLATERAL READING Milk Fever, Its Simple and Successful Treatment, U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 206. Anthrax with Special Reference to its Suppression, U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 439. Tuberculosis, U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletins 351 and 473. Practical Method of Disinfecting Stables, U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 480. Texas Fever, U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletins 498, 569, and 603. Eradication of the Cattle Tick Necessary for Profitable Dairying in the South, U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 639. Foot and Mouth Disease, U.S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 666. Diseases of Cattle, U. S. Dept. Agr. (A 550-page book, cost- ing $1.) Cyclopedia of American Agriculture,’ L. H. Bailey, Vol. III, pp. 122-146, 321-330. The Diseases of Animals, N. S. Mayo. , CHAPTER 8 MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS C. H. Eckuss COMPOSITION OF MILK 153. Average Composition. Milk is composed of water, fat, protein, sugar, and ash or minerals. The milk of all species of animals and of every individual within the species. contains these same constituents, but the proportions are subject to wide variations. Cow’s milk weighs approximately 2.15 pounds per quart. (Density is 1.032.) It is not possible to give any single statement that will give more than a general idea of its composition on account of the wide variations due to the influence of breed and other factors. If a quantity of milk be taken as representative of the total amount sold for city trade or of that sold to butter or cheese factories, it would have approximately the following composition : Per CEN? Water . SF, ack ewe cost eee eon eae . ch lea aur ear Ree aeer ae Ph 3 cauein tee 2 / " Protein oe ey ae ee ae Ve UIE a ae Geet Tae ge Ee ae Ash BORN oe os eee 4" 154. Water. Milk contains on an average about 87.3 per cent of water. ‘The extreme variations are from about 83 to 90 per cent. The water in milk serves the same 168 * MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 169 purpose as food as ordinary water. It should not be concluded from the high water content that milk has a low food value. | 155. Fat. The fat is commercially the most valuable part of milk. -It is also the most variable in amount. It may range from 2.5 to 7.5 per cent and occasionally even beyond these limits. The fat exists in the form of minute Fia. 47.— Photomicrograph showing fat globules in Shorthorn milk. Magnified 400 diameters. globules, too small to be seen by the naked eye but readily seen under.a microscope. It is in a state of suspension, that is, the fat globules are floating in the milk. When milk stands undisturbed for some time, the fat rises to the top in the form of cream. Churning of cream is the uniting of these fat globules by mechanical means until they form a lump of butter. The main factors influencing the amount of fat are: (1) breed, (2) stage of lactation, (3) individuality 170 _ DAIRY FARMING of the cow, (4) interval between milkings, (5) portion of the milking, fore milk or strippings. As food, fat serves as fuel to supply heat for the body, and energy to keep up the body functions. The surplus is stored as body fat, which serves as a storehouse of reserve material for future use. Fat does not make growth of bone or muscle. 156. Protein. The protein varies in amount from 2.5 to 4.2 per cent in extreme cases. Mixed milk usually varies between 3 and 3.5 per cent. Protein contains nitrogen combined with hydrogen, carbon, and small quantities of phosphorus and sulphur. The proteins in milk are a mix- ture of several kinds. Two only need to be mentioned since they make up nearly the entire amount. These are casein and albumin. The casein is that part of milk which curdles on souring. It also gives the white color to the milk. In cheese making rennet is added to the milk to coagulate the casein, which takes most of the fat with it in a mechanical way. The albumin is present to the amount of about 0.7 per cent. It is much like the albumin of an egg or that in blood. It is coagulated by heating and may be seen as a scum on the surface of boiled milk. It goes into the whey in cheese making. The protein may be said to be the most valuable food con- stituent of milk. Itsupplies material necessary for the growth of bone and muscle and to. keep up the repair of the body. Part of the casein is in a semi-dissolved condition. A portion of the undissolved part, and insoluble impurities that were in the milk, make up the well-known separator slime. 157. Sugar. The form of sugar known as lactose is found only in milk. Its chemical composition is practically the same as that of cane sugar, although it is less sweet in taste. It has the same food value as ordinary sugar and like it fur- MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 171 nishes a source of heat and energy for the body. When acted upon by certain bacteria, a portion of it changes into lactic acid and makes the milk sour. The lactic acid unites with the lime in the casein. This results in precipitating the casein as the curd of sour milk. When milk is used for butter making, the greater part of the sugar goes with the skim-milk, another part with the buttermilk, and only a very minute quantity into the but- ter. In cheese making a very small amount goes into the cheese and the remainder into the whey. 158. Mineral Matter or Ash. This is the portion remain- ing if milk solids are burned. It varies little in quantity or composition. It seldom falls below 0.6 or exceeds 0.85 per cent. It is composed largely of potassium, calcium, and phosphorus, with smaller quantities of several other ele- ments, including iron and sodium. When milk is used as food, the ash serves to furnish material for the bones and to supply other necessary demands for mineral matter in the body. 159. Color of Milk. The white color is due to some extent to the fat, but mostly to the casein. The yellowish color observed to some extent in milk is associated with the fat. This yellow coloring matter is carotin. Its source is the plants used by the cow for food.!. This pigment is found along with the green pigment in growing plants. It passes from the stomach through the circulation of the cow and into the milk-fat in an unchanged condition. When the feed is low in coloring matter, as for example dry hay and grain, the color of the milk-fat is reduced, and the butter may appear almost white as it often does in winter. The yellow coloring matter has no food value, neither does it give any taste to the milk or fat. The preference for yellow 1 Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, Research Bulletins 9, 10, 11, 12. 172 DAIRY FARMING butter and for cream of a somewhat yellow color is based entirely upon looks. Factors INFLUENCING COMPOSITION 160. The Kind of Animal. As already stated, the milk of all species contains the same constituents but in different proportions. Table 19 gives the average composition of human milk and of that from several domestic animals. TaspLE 19.— Composition oF MILK or DIFFERENT ANIMALS Dry SPECIES RGA Fat PROTEIN SuGAR ASH Buna Fe 11.2 at 2.0 6.3 0.2 COWS Ses gle 127 ant ao 4.8 mee Sah). eo aes 14.5 4.8 5.0 4.0 0.7 Sheep © 3 eee PIS 6.1 5.1 4.2 0.9 VSP. 8, GT es, 9.3 ) Rr 2.0 Cel 0.4 Wits eet cane 15.9 4.5 fhe? ol 1i Mamiel es \ 5% oot 11.8 2.5 a6 5.0 0.7 Reindeer .. . 28.8 14.5 8 3.0 acd Brichs (es 255 23.0 9.3 9.7 ok 0.9 abhi git h ete es 18.4 3.9 9.1 4.9 0.5 The composition of human milk is of great importance in connection with the problem of infant feeding. Within recent years it has become more and more the practice to modify cow’s milk when used for infant food so that it ap- proaches the normal milk of the human mother. The most marked difference in composition’ between human and cow’s milk is the decidedly lower protein and higher sugar content . in the former. The general plan followed in modifying cow’s milk for infant feeding is to add sufficient water to reduce the pro- tein content to that found in human milk. Cream is then added to restore the fat content to from 2.5 to 3.5 per MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS Lie cent and sufficient sugar, usually milk sugar, to raise the content of this constituent to that found in human milk. A’ knowledge of the composition of milk produced by the common domestic animals will be found of value at times. For example, if it becomes necessary to raise a colt by hand, a study of the table giving the composition of mare’s milk will show clearly that even average cow’s milk should be diluted with water before being used for this purpose. Cane sugar is often added. The exceedingly rapid growth of small animals is ex- plained by the very rich milk that small species always produce. As a general rule the larger the species, the slower the growth of the young, and the smaller the amount of solids in the milk. Animals living in arctic regions or in the ocean are exceptions. These conditions require a large amount of fat for fuel to keep the young animal warm. ‘This interesting fact is illustrated by the composition of the reindeer’s milk and also by that of certain marine animals such as the walrus and the porpoise which secrete the richest milk known. 161. Breed. The milk from different breeds of cows differs in composition. Table 20 gives a summary of all the published records of American Experiment Stations on this subject up to 1913: | TaBLe 20.— Composition or MILK By BREEDS! BREED Tora Souips Fat PROTEIN SUGAR JOLSOVa. tel tek ea. 14.70 Vaal 4 3.80 5.04 IGETIROY ON Sie ss 14.49 4.98 3.84 4.98 PUY TANAOI ae 1278 3.85 3.34 5.02 Holstein. 04 12.00 3.45 So 4.65 1U. 8S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin 156. 174 DAIRY FARMING It will be noted that the main variation is in the fat, al- though the protein shows sufficient variation to be of impor- tance. Sugar varies but slightly, and the ash practically none. The breed of the cow also has a marked influence upon the size of the fat globules. Those of the Jerseys and Guernseys are much larger than those of the Holsteins. The larger fat globules in Jersey milk result in quicker and more complete separation of the cream by gravity; also in a slight difference in the ease of churning. The breed of the cow likewise has a marked influence upon the color of milk and especially upon the color of the butter. In amount of color the Guernsey ranks first, followed by the Jersey, Short- horn, Ayrshire, and Holstein in the order named.” There is no basis for the common claim that certain breeds pro- duce milk or butter of a better flavor than others. Out- side the possible variation in color, the most expert judge cannot distinguish the product of one breed from that of another when other conditions are the same. 162. Stage of Lactation. The stage of lactation stands second only to the breed in importance as a factor influencing the composition of milk. The amount of the different con- stituents and also the nature of the fat itself is influenced in this way. The most marked effect is upon the amount of protein and fat. | The figures in Table 21 obtained by the author show the average for eleven cows representing three breeds which were kept on a uniform ration for an entire lactation period to elim- inate changes due to feed. A decided increase in the amount of fat and protein is shown, but little change in the sugar content. . The stage of lactation also has a marked effect upon the size of fat globules. After the cow has been in milk MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 175 ten or eleven months, the fat globules average about one- third the size of those in the milk when the cow is fresh. This is one reason why difficulty is often experienced in churn- ing the cream from cows that have been in milk a long time. TaBLE 21.—Errect or STAGE or LACTATION ON COMPOSITION or MILk eee oe ee PROTEIN Far SuGar Weeks Per Cent Per Cent Per Cent 1-4 3.25 4.00 4.87 5-8 3.06 3.85 4.84 9-12 3.06 3.79 4.94 13-16 3.13 oot 4.82 17-20 ee eas 3.82 4.80 21-24 Bye 3.79 4.75 25-28 B.02 3.83 4.88 29-32 3:32 380" 4.83 33-36 3.57 3.97 4.62 37—40 3.83 4.11 4.55 41-44 3.89 4.22 4.74 45-48 4.08 4.54 4.91 49-52 4.34 4.66 4.50, 163. Individuality of the Animal. The writer has kept complete records for one year or more for 76 Jersey cows. The lowest average fat content for a year was 4.47 and the highest 7.00 per cent. Among 40 Holsteins the lowest was 2.6 and the highest 3.81. The records of 25 Shorthorns show a. variation from 3.59 to 4.31 in the averages for one year. These give an idea of the extent of variation within a breed. The variation in the other constituents is always less than the variation in fat. 164. Interval between Milkings. If a cow is milked twice daily at equal intervals, the quantity and quality of milk 1U. 8. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin 155. 176 DAIRY FARMING are usually about the same at each milking. If the intervals are not equal, the larger yield of milk and a lower percentage of fat follow the longer interval. When the milking is done three times or more daily, the variation in fat content is generally considerable, even though the intervals between - milking are equal. Asarule, the milk drawn near the noon hour has the highest fat content. Where the composition is varied by unequal intervals, the variation is confined mostly to the fat. | 165. Fore Milk and Strippings. The first milk drawn from the cow contains a low percentage of fat, while the last is sev- eral times richer in this constituent. The first milk as a rule contains from 1.5 to 2.5 per cent, while the strippings range from 5 to 10 per cent. The other constituents of the milk are practically the same in all parts of the milking. Numer-— ous variations occur from day to day that cannot be ex- plained by any of the factors described. A single sample of milk from a cow may be entirely misleading. 166. Effect of Feed. The error is often made of assuming that the richness of milk varies with the feed. While it is possible under certain conditions to make a variation of possibly 0.2 to 0.4 per cent by giving certain feeds, it is only under conditions so abnormal that it is of scientific interest only and has no practical bearing. As far as the ordinary practice is concerned, the feed has no influence upon the richness of the milk. If a certain cow averages 3.4 per cent fat for a year, no one knows how to feed her to make her milk average 4.0 per cent for the following year. The richness of a cow’s milk is fixed by heredity and cannot be permanently changed by any means. It is a well-known fact, however, that a cow in a high state of flesh at time of calving gives richer milk for a short time than does one thin in flesh. MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS es | if MarKET MILK 167. Sanitary Milk. Milk sometimes acts as the carrier of human disease germs. The danger that such germs will get into milk during handling is much greater than is the danger of the transmission of any disease directly from the cows. While the danger of carrying disease is great, it is Fie. 48. — A small top milk pail helps to prevent contamination during milking. Strainers and cloth over the opening are of little value. Some of the most sanitary dairies use the types illustrated. certain that dirty or partly spoiled milk is even more serious and is responsible for much sickness and many deaths among children. | The production of market milk that is reasonably safe for food, is not difficult and need not involve heavy ex- pense, except that more intelligence is necessary for its production and greater intelligence demands higher wages. It is certain that if the public wants good clean milk the N 178 DAIRY FARMING price must be somewhat higher than it has been in the past. The first requirement is that the cows must be healthy. The milk from a cow suffering from sickness of any kind, including garget in the udder, should not be used. The milkers should be in good health and should take special pains that no possible chance is given for the germs of typhoid fever to get into the milk. Care should be taken that contaminated water is not used for washing the utensils. Sanitary milk means primarily clean milk. In fact, the requirements for producing sanitary milk can be described in two words. The first is cleanliness, and the second is coldness. The source of most of the dirt that finds its way into milk is filth from the cow’s body. A B A dirty cow invariably Fic. 49. — Milk pails and cans should eee dirty milk. The have all seams filled with solder as in b. stable should be so con- pica hee pie s ike @ are very difi- “structed that it is possible to keep the cow clean. A cow should be brushed daily to keep the loose dirt off the body. The stable and yard should,:of course, be kept in a good condition of cleanliness. The milker should wear clean clothes and should milk with dry hands. Next to cleanliness of the cow stands cleanliness of the pails, strainers, and other utensils. These should be first cleaned with a brush, using warm water and some washing powder. Special attention should be given to the seams. After being thoroughly cleaned, they should be scalded with boiling water or better heated in steam when this is avail-- able. After being scalded, they should be placed where MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 179 they will dry quickly. It is well to set them in the sun dur- ing the day. Coldness is as important as cleanliness. Keeping milk clean keeps most of the bacteria out. Cooling it prevents the growth of those that do getin. Effective cool- ing means bringing the temperature of the milk, not later than an hour after milking, and prefer- bl t Fic. 50.— Brush for cleaning milk utensils. ably sooner, to a temper- The brush is much better than a cloth. ature of 50° F., or lower. In an experiment by the author a sample of fresh milk was divided into two parts, one of which was cooled at once to 50° F., while the other was placed at 75° F., with the fol- lowing results : Hewp at 50° F. HELD aT 75° F. Bacteria per ¢.c. in fresh milk . . 21,000 21,000 Bacteria per c.c. after 12 hours . |. 20,000 110,000 Bacteria per ¢.c. after 24 hours. 32,000 10,450,000 Age of milk at first souring . . . 3 days - 28 hours Putting warm milk in an ordinary ice box is not an effec- tive method of cooling, as can be readily determined by testing it with a thermometer. The importance of the statement regarding the necessity for sudden cooling and the inefficiency of cold air as a means of cooling is illus- trated in a striking way by an experiment conducted by students under the supervision of the author. Sixteen gal- lons of fresh warm milk was received from the barn, mixed, and then placed in two cans. Plate cultures were made 180 DAIRY FARMING from the milk, according to the method used in bacterio- logical laboratories, to determine the number of bacteria { A Lea IA MAGS NN 1 pent ) ‘ | Mr IN ys av tiny Wc ly ARR aN ~ a+ tv ed VEN AM via fr X= Vive lin 1s rat aby SN I A CENS MN PVA e aN TAS \y We \agls p AUS yin Set Sit SWRA TS a aS AIS otsS Fic. 51. — Influence of temperature ‘on the growth of bacteria. a repre- sents one original bacterium; b, the de- scendants of one bacterium in milk kept 24 hours at 50° F.; c represents the number of descendants when milk is not cooled. temperature for a good ice box. lated below: present. There were found to be 13,000 bac- teria per cubic centimeter in the fresh milk. This is a low count, showing - that the milk had been taken under sanitary conditions. excellent One can was cooled at once to 50° by placing it in ice water and stirring. The other can still showed a temperature of 90°. Both were now put in a room cooled with ice to a temperature of 50°, which is a typical The results are tabu- Number of bacteria at beginning Temperature ar. room 4... cod se Temperature of milk at beginning . Temperature after 12 hours Temperature after 24 hours Temperature after 36 hours Number of bacteria after 36 hours CooLeD MILK Unies 13,000 13,000 50° 50° 50° 90° 50° 70°. 50° 58° 50° 51° 15,000 52,500,000 The bacteria counts were made in both samples at the end of 36 hours. The cooled sample contained 15,000 bac- teria per cubic centimeter, and the uncooled the enormous number of 52,500,000 in the same quantity. The sample MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 181 cooled slowly soured within 40 hours, while the other re- mained perfectly sweet for five days. If a large quantity of milk is handled, it should be cooled by means of a water cooler, many styles of which may be purchased at reasonable prices. The next best plan is to set the cans in ice water and stir the milk frequently. The general subject of milk sanitation may be summarized in the following statements : | 1. Use only healthy cows. 2. Milk should not be handled by any one suffering from a contagious disease or associated with a person so affected. 3. The cow’s body should be kept free from manure. 4. The milker should have clean clothes and should milk with dry hands. | 5. The utensils must be properly washed and sterilized. 6. The milk must be thoroughly cooled immediately and kept cold until consumed. 168. Certified Milk. This name is applied to milk pro- duced according to a set of rules prepared by a medical milk commission. Such organizations have no relation to either state or city inspection. Representatives of the association make chemical analyses and bacteria counts of the milk at frequent intervals. They also examine the sanitary condi- tions of the premises where the milk is produced and the health of the cattle and of the milkers at regular intervals. If all rules are complied with and the number of bacteria is below the maximum number fixed by the rules, the com- mission certifies to the condition of the milk and allows the dairyman to sell it with its approval. The rules are very strict, requiring great cleanliness in every detail. As a result certified milk means the highest possible quality from a sanitary standpoint. Such milk usually retails at about 182 DAIRY FARMING 15 cents per quart, and the producer receives possibly 8 cents at the farm. At present only a very small amount of milk is produced under these conditions, as the market is limited. Fig. 52. — Practical milk coolers for farm use. The one on the left is more efficient, but more expensive. Cold water, preferably ice water, is used for cooling. It is only practicable to conduct such a business where a large city market is easy of access and when suitable arrangements can be made to market the product. Bae BuTTeER MAKING ON THE FARM 169. Butter Making onthe Farm. Although the creamery has become a factor of great importance in the dairy develop- ment of the country, still according to the last census, 994 million pounds of butter per year, or 61 per cent of the total, was made on farms. The greater part of this was produced on farms where fewer than ten cows were kept. The quality of farm-made butter varies from the poorest to the best. The average quality, however, is far below that made in the creameries. This is due largely to the fact that little at- tention is given to having proper utensils and facilities, on MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 183 account of the small amount of cream available on most farms. Lack of interest and of knowledge as to the proper methods also affects the quality of the product. When proper facilities are provided and the right methods are followed, the quality of butter made on the farm may easily be su- perior to that made in the average creamery. To do this it is necessary to have suffi- cient cream to make it possible to churn at least twice and _ preferably three times each week. 170. Facilities Needed. It is very desirable, but of course not absolutely necessary, to have a sep- arate room arranged for butter making. Some- Fig. 53.—A good milk house, an important part of the equipment on a dairy farm. times a basement room, if it is well ventilated and lighted, can be utilized with advan- tage. A concrete floor provided with a drain saves a great deal of labor in cleaning apparatus. Some means of cooling, either ice or an abundance of very cold water, is indispensable. 171. What is Good Butter. Butter that has the qualities which make it satisfactory to the consumer always sells readily. While there is some variation in individual taste, the general market demands the same quality everywhere. The following is the common score card for judging butter. Flavor Buea resanee os SSS he a peitareertas cea cr oS ea aD eR ee rs eine, eS) ee anes 15 UN ig a ge a ee 10 PN yee ee sah Na. rats 5 184 DAIRY FARMING 172. Flavor. The proper flavor is hard to describe, but may be said to be a pure butter taste and odor. It should be entirely free from any other taste, such as might be de- scribed as rancid, stale, or strong. The flavor of the butter, whether it be good or bad, in at least nine cases out of ten, is produced during the souring, or ripening, of the cream. There are a few exceptions to this rule. A few feeds, such as onions, turnips, or new rye pasture, will give a taste to butter. Ina few cases, butter made from the milk of a cow near the end of her milking period, has a slightly objection- able taste. | 173. Body, Color, and Salt. Body, color, salt, and pack- | age may be said to depend upon mechanical conditions. They are entirely under the control of the butter maker, pro-__ vided suitable facilities are at hand. Faults in these quali- ties are not to be attributed to the feed, breed, or season of the year. The body should be waxy and aie but not brittle or salvy. It should not stick to the knife when cut, neither should it crumble. Proper body results from having the churning temperature right, stopping the churning at the right stage, and working the butter the proper amount. The color should be that of butter produced by cows on pasture. During the season when dry feed is used, a suffi- cient amount of vegetable coloring should be added to the cream to give the proper shade of yellow. The most com- mon defects in color are having it too high or too low, or having a streaky or uneven color known as mottles. The latter condition is due to uneven distribution of the salt, a result of insufficient working. The salt should be sufficient so that a person eating the butter does not notice either a deficiency or an excess. In MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 185 addition to too heavy or too light salting, the most common fault is gritty or undissolved salt. The amount of water left in butter is somewhat variable. The usual rule is to estimate that a given number of pounds of butter-fat will give one-sixth more pounds of butter. 174. Separation of Cream. In certain localities it is the practice to churn the whole milk, but this results in an unnecessary loss of butter-fat in the buttermilk. Until recent years cream has _ been secured entirely by _ allowing it to rise to the top of the milk. Since the introduction of the cream separator, about 1885, the separator method has become more and more general. The most efficient gravity method consists in using a narrow deep can set in ice water or very cold spring or well water, and skimming the cream at the end of 12 or 15 hours. A widely used Fic. 54. — For butter making purposes but very inefficient Way _ four cows with a cream separator are equal ‘ . to five when shallow pans are used to raise of securing cream is the the cream. shallow-pan system, which consists in placing the milk in pans and crocks not over four inches deep and keeping it at a moderate temper- ature. The cream is then skimmed from the surface at the end of 24 or 36 hours. By use of the deep-setting 186 DAIRY FARMING method it is possible to recover about 90 per cent of the cream. By the shallow-pan method from 75 to 80 De cent is recovered. The centrifugal cream separator is now practical where five or more cows are kept although it is often used for even a smaller number. The separator makes it possible to re- cover about 98 per cent of the butter-fat and to obtain the cream in a condition that makes it possible to produce the highest grade of butter. It also results in a considerable saving of labor, -and the skim-milk is in the best possible con- dition for feeding to calves. 175. Ripening of Cream. This subject requires considerable attention since the mar-. ket value of the butter is largely controlled eecarigdae a by the cream ripening. Cream should not used for raising be held too long. When churned, it should anes Leis have a pure, sharp, sour taste with no ob- jectionable taste, such as bitter, rancid, or stale. Cream ripening is due to the development of bacteria. Butter factories use a starter to help control the souring, but this is not generally practical for the small farm, unless considerable cream is handled. The proper ripening of the cream is controlled by two things: first, by observing proper cleanliness in every detail of milking, separating, and hand- ling the cream; second, by proper control of the temperature of the cream during the ripening process. The following statement is based upon the assumption that churning will be done two or three times weekly and not daily. The best procedure under these conditions is to keep the cream from the first milking at a temperature of 70° but not colder. This can be done by setting the can in MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 187 well water or standing it in a room at ordinary temperature. The cream from the next milking is added to this without cooling. If by the time the cream from the third milking is added, the cream in the can tastes sour, the entire lot should be placed in cold water or a cold place where it will cool to a temperature of between 50° and 60°. It should be kept at this temperature until churned. The fresh cream as separated is added to the sour until within about twelve hours of churning, after which no more is added in order that the cream may be kept cool until churning time. 176. Temperature for Churning. No definite temperature can be given covering all conditions. The best rule is to use such temperature as is necessary to get the cream to churn within 30 to 45 min- utes. Quicker churning means soft butter ‘ : 5 é Fia. 56. — Floating or too much loss in the buttermilk. gairy thermometers. Longer churning is of no advantage. ee oh ce When cows are on pasture, a temperature where milk is cooled of from 52° to 56°F. is usually found best, °” "27 Churmed- while under dry-feed conditions 58° to 64° F. is more suitable. A thermometer should always be used in bringing the cream to the proper churning temperature. Guessing at the temperature often means poor quality of butter and much waste of time. The churn should be not over one-third full, and the cream should have about 25 to 30 per cent of fat for the best results. Difficulty in churning is generally to be attributed to having the temperature too low, the cream too thin, or the churn too full. At times trouble that cannot be attributed to these causes is experienced. This occurs ecesseoesseso44 sesaSariAAes ko} BUM 188 DAIRY FARMING when the cream is from cows far advanced in the stage of lactation and generally during the season when dry feeds 3 are fed exclusively. Under these conditions the fat itself is hard, ‘the fat globules small, and the amount of casein in the milk large. All these con- ditions combine to make churning difficult. If a cream separator is in use, the trouble may be partly removed by mixing the cream while still sweet with three or four times its volume of warm water Fie. 57. — The most widely used, and gnd running this mixture most satisfactory churn for farm use. through the separator. This affects the flavor of the butter somewhat, but makes the churning easier by removing part of the casein. 177. Churns and Churning. For farm use nothing is better than the ordinary barrel churn without any inside fixtures. Large farm dairies can advanta- geously use a small-sized com- bined churn and worker. The cream should be strained into the churn through a wire or hair 744.58: Combineltenwes strainer to remove particles of and butter worker, adapted for é ‘ use on the farm where large curd, which if not removed show amounts of butter are made. MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 189 as white specks in the butter. If butter color is used, it should be added to the cream in the churn. The churn should be stopped when the butter granules are about the size of kernels of corn, or a little smaller in thin cream. The buttermilk is drained off through a strainer. The butter is next washed to remove the remainder of the but- termilk, by adding about as much water as there was Fic. 59. — Butter in proper condition to stop churning. buttermilk. This should be at a temperature of 50° to 56° F. : 178. Salting and Working. After washing, the butter is placed on the worker and the salt distributed over it. The worker and the ladles used are previously put to soak in hot water, then thoroughly cooled in cold water before using, to prevent the butter from sticking tothem. The amount of salt may vary some with the market, but usually one ounce per pound of butter is the amount preferred. The butter 190 DAIRY FARMING is next worked to distribute the salt and to make the butter into a compact mass. If there is trouble in getting the salt dissolved, the butter may be allowed to stand a few hours in a cool place after the working is partly done. A second working is then given. The working should be done slowly and mostly by pressure rather than by sliding the ladle or working utensil over the butter. The working should stop when the salt is all dissolved and the body of the butter compact and waxy. Observation of the condition of the butter and of the time required is the best way to learn the proper stage at which to stop working. Overworking makes the butter sticky and soft in texture, underworking results in mottled butter. | 179. Package. When butter is placed on the market, the package is of great importance. It should be neat | and attractive and of proper size. The rec- tangular one-pound prints meet with the most favor every- where. They should be wrapped in good parchment paper, Fic. 60.— A hand butter worker that gives which may be pur- good results when butter is made on the chased in the proper ee size, 8 X 11 inches, at very low cost. When butter is shipped or handled in quan- tities, it is also well to use a paraffined paper box over the parchment paper, known as a carton, which protects the butter. To secure and retain a good retail trade requires a uniformly high quality of butter and a constant supply during the year. MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 191 Factory Propvucts 180. Creameries. This name is commonly applied to factories manufacturing butter on a large scale and from milk supplied by several or many herds. The amount of butter made on farms decreased 7 per cent in the 10 years 1899-1909, but the amount made in factories increased 49 per cent. The great advantages of the fac- tory system are the saving in labor and the higher price obtained Fic. 61. — A hand butter worker. Where for the product. butter is made in lots of five pounds or more In some places the 2 worker should be used. milk is taken from the farm to the creamery for separation. This is known as a whole-milk creamery. In others the farmers separate the cream at home with small separators and deliver the cream to the factory. Some creameries are owned by the farmers and operated on a coép- erative basis, while others are owned by individuals or companies. Many centralizer creameries have re- Fie. 62.— Good o ‘ butterladles. Butter cently originated in the Central and should not be touched Western States. Such creameries are with the hands. : eee bee a eas located in cities where shipping facilities are good, instead of in a cream-producing neighborhood. Cream is purchased by local agents or shipped direct to the company by the producer. Shipments are at times made as 192 DAIRY FARMING far as 400 miles, but generally within a 50-mile radius. Some of these factories have the capacity of forty average-sized local creameries. The cream received is usually sour and | too old for the best results in butter making. However, by — skillful methods of handling, in the way of pasteurizing and neu- tralizing the cream with lime water, it is possible to make a fair grade of butter. This type of creamery is most common where the producers of cream are widely scattered so that a local creamery cannot obtain sufficient raw ma- le terial. Under these conditions the Fic. 63. — Butter print. The centralizer creamery serves a useful rectangular print sells best. purpose, but where the supply of cream is sufficient a local factory is to be recommended. 181. Cheese Making. This important industry is carried on most extensively in Wisconsin and in New York. In 1909 these two states produced over 79 per cent of the total product in this country. The milk of about 850,000 cows is used for this purpose in the United States and the value of the product is nearly 50 million dollars annually. Only about 3 per cent of the cheese is made on farms. Milk for cheese making must be well cared for. This requires a fairly liberal supply of milk within a small area. On the average 10 pounds of milk are required for 1 pound of cheese. Common American Cheddar, which is the most common kind, contains about one-third water, one-third fat, and one-third casein. In the process of cheese making the milk is coagulated while it is in a perfectly sweet condition by the addition of rennet extract. Rennet is a substance obtained from the wall of rc MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 193 the stomach of calves that have been slaughtered for veal. It is secreted by glands in the lining of the stomach in all young animals that live on a milk diet. The casein as it is coagulated by the rennet incloses the fat with it and forms curd. This curd is cut into small pieces, and the water gradually expelled by careful stirring and heating. When the proper stage is reached, the curd is put into a press and sufficient pressure is applied to cause it to unite into a solid mass. When the pressing is completed, the cheese is put away for ripening. Newly made cheese is not good to eat. It lacks flavor as well as digestibility. It is kept for a period of from six weeks to six months for curing and ripening. The temperature of the curing room must be carefully controlled, as too much heat will injure the quality of the cheese. The difficulty of proper control of the ripening is the most serious objection to making cheese on the farm, and the greatest difficulty to be overcome in operating a factory in a climate subject to great extremes of heat. Dur- ing the ripening, the protein largely changes from an insoluble to a soluble form and in this way becomes much more digesti- ble. -The typical flavor is developed at the same time. 182. Condensed Milk. ‘The process of condensing milk was invented by Borden in 1856. For the year 1909 the value of condensed milk in the United States was nearly 34 million dollars. The process consists in removing a portion of the water from the milk by heating it in a partial vacuum. The milk used must be fresh and in good condition. The milk is condensed until 2% parts of the fresh milk make 1 part of the condensed. ‘Two classes of condensed milk are commonly made. One is known as sweetened, since cane sugar is added until the finished product contains 40 per cent sugar. Condensed milk of this class is preserved Oo 194 DAIRY FARMING chiefly by the large amount of sugar present. The other class is the unsweetened. Nothing is added to the milk. The preservation depends upon heating the product after it is in cans in a steam oven under pressure until it is completely sterilized. Several grades of this class are made. A condensed milk factory can only be operated where a large supply of perfectly fresh milk can be obtained. The con- densary is usually a good market for milk, but the farmer supplying the milk has the same trouble raising his calves as in the case where whole milk is sold in any other form. 183. Milk Flour. A few factories make powdered milk, or milk flour. For this a part of the fat is removed, and the milk is dried to make a fine white powder that keeps well. When water is added, the powder dissolves. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Which is heavier, cream or skim-milk? 2. What purpose does each of the constituents of milk serve when used as food? Which is the most important constituent? 3. Compare the amount of fat in Holstein milk with the amount in Jersey milk when the latter is considered as 100 per cent. Com- pare the protein in the same way. 4. Why is the percentage of fat not an accurate measure of the value of milk as food? 5. Is it possible to increase Lig percentage of fat in milk by changing the feed? 6. Is the color of milk a sure raeagen of the percentage of butter-fat contained ? 7. Where does each constituent of the milk go when milk is used for butter making? For cheese making? 8. What reasons are there for stripping a cow? 9. What are the legal standards of your state for milk and butter? Some of this information is given on page297. Whatare the restrictions on the sale of oleomargarine? 10. What principle of physics is the basis for the operation of the cream separator and of the Babcock milk test? MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 195 11. How many cows would be required where the shallow-pan system is used, to supply as much cream as would be secured from 6 cows when the centrifugal separator is used? 12. Why is butter yellow in summer, and much lighter in color in winter? 13. What is afarrow cow? Why is cream from her milk likely to be hard to churn? 14. What is the leading dairy product in your region? 15. Is more or less of the butter in your region made in factories than formerly ? 16. What butter or cheese factories are there in the region? 17. What dairy products are sold in your local stores? Where do they come from? 18. The following table gives results for 1909. Using data given in this chapter, fill in the blanks. ButTTER CHEESE CoNDENSED MILK Butter- see ase Pounds Pounds Pounds fat Milk Pounds Milk Pounds Milk Produced Re- Produced Re- Produced Re- quired duties d quired quired Made on farms} 994,650,610 9,405,864 Made in fac- tories . . .| 624,764,653 311,126,317 494,796,544 otal? . .\19619,415,263 320,532,181 494,796,544 LABORATORY EXERCISES COMPOSITION OF MILK 15. Butter-fat. Examine some milk under the microscope, using preferably a one-sixth objective, and make drawings of the fat globules showing the variations in size. 16: Casein of Milk. This part of milk is precipitated by dilute acids. Place 10 c.c. of skim-milk in a 200 ¢.c. beaker and add 90 c.c. of water at a temperature of 100° F. Immediately add 1.5 e.c. of a 10 per cent solution of acetic acid. Let it stand 20 minutes with occasional stirring. Filter, using ordinary filter paper, saving the filtrate in another beaker. The residue on the paper is the casein. The albumin, sugar, and ash are in the filtrate. 17. Albumin of Milk. Heat the filtrate from the above rapidly, and boil until the solution can be filtered with a clear filtrate. Filter 196 DAIRY FARMING while hot. Theresidue on the filter paperis thealbumin. Thesugar and the ash remain in the filtrate. 18. Milk Sugar. The milk sugar is not easily separated from the ash. Its presence may be demonstrated by using Fehling’s solution as follows. To 10 c.c. of the filtrate add 5 ¢.c. of Fehling’s solution and boil. The red precipitate shows the presence of sugar. 19. Ash of Milk. The presence of ash may be demonstrated as follows. Take 25 c.c. of milk in an evaporating dish. Add a few drops of acetic acid. Place evaporating dish and contents on a sand bath and evaporate to dryness. Allow to char slightly, then place on a wire gauze over a gas burner and heat until contents char. Re-— move the gauze and heat over a full flame until all of the carbon is burned off. The gray residue is the ash, or mineral matter. THE BABCOCK TEST FOR MILK °20. Test of Whole Milk. Apparatus needed: a hand power cen- trifuge or testing machine, 4 to 6 milk test bottles, a pipette to measure the milk, an acid measure, ordinary commercial sulfurie acid, a small sample of milk, and some hot water. The apparatus may be purchased from any dealer in dairy supplies. Sulfuric acid may be obtained at any drug store. Sampling the Milk. The accuracy of the test depends largely on the sample taken. The milk to be tested should be thoroughly mixed, preferably by pouring several times from one jar to another. The milk should be at ordinary room temperature. The small end of the pipette is placed in the milk and the milk drawn in by suck- ing slowly at the upper end. The milk is drawn somewhat above the mark which indicates 17.6 ¢.c., and the first finger is then quickly slipped over the top of the pipette. The milk is then allowed to escape slowly until the surface is at the mark on the pipette. The small end of the pipette is now placed in the neck of the test bottle and the milk allowed to flow into the test bottle. The last drop remaining in the point of the pipette should be blown out into the test bottle. It is always well to make duplicate tests of each sample. Adding the Acid. When all the samples are measured out, the acid should be added. The acid measure is filled to the 17.5 ¢.e. mark with acid that is at room temperature. The acid is now poured into the test bottle, holding the bottle in an inclined position so that it runs down the neck and side of the bottle and forms a clear layer at the bottom. Next take the bottle by the neck and | = MILK AND ITS PRODUCTS 197 give it a gentle rotary motion until the curd of the milk is entirely dissolved, and the mixture of acid and milk is of a uniform dark cof- fee color and very hot. This change in appearance and in tempera- ture is the result of the action of the acid upon the constituents of the milk, all of which are dissolved except the fat, which is not affected. _ Whirling the Bottles. The bottles are now put in the centri- fuge. They should be quite hot throughout the whirling. Test- ing should not be done ina cold room. It is generally necessary to place some boiling water in the bottom of a hand centrifuge to keep up the heat during the whirling. The test bottles should be placed in the machine so that they balance each other. The machine is operated for five minutes at the proper speed for the machine, 700 to 900 revolutions of the disk per minute, depending upon the size of the revolving parts. At the end of five minutes the machine is stopped, and hot water is added to each bottle by means of the pipette until the contents come up to the bottom of the neck. Then whirl the machine two minutes more and add hot water to bring the fat column near the top of the graduations on the neck. Whirl one minute and the tests are ready for reading. The fat should be clear and free from black sediment below, or foam on top. Reading the Test. The test bottles should be placed for a few minutes in a deep pail or pan of water, the temperature of which is regulated to 130° F. The fat should be in a fluid condition. In reading, the test bottle should be held in a perpendicular position on the level with the eye. , The reading on the graduated scale should be noted at the top and bottom of the fat column. This reading is made from the ex- treme bottom of the fat column to the straight line which is seen across the top, and not to the curved line which appears just below. The difference between the two readings is the percentage of fat in the milk. The neck of the bottle is graduated into large divisions which represent per cent, and these again into smaller divisions, each of which may be 0.1 per cent, or 0.2 per cent, depending upon the style of the bottle. Suggestions on Making the Babcock Test. 1. Use the index finger, not the thumb, for closing the pipette. Keep the finger dry. 2. Draw the milk above the mark when measuring, and then hold the pipette on level with the eye as the milk is allowed to flow a drop at a time until the mark is reached. 198 DAIRY FARMING 3. Hold the bottle in a slanting position when adding acid, and do not allow the mouth of the bottle to point toward any ~ one while the milk and acid are being mixed, as occasionally the contents may be forced out suddenly. 4. Wash the pipette thoroughly, and dip it in hot water after using. 5. The testing machine must be fastened securely to a heavy table or bench. Start and stop the machine slowly. 6. If black sediment appears in the fat column, the indications are that the acid was too strong. Useslightly less. If white specks are present, it is probable the action of the acid was too weak. Use a little more, or warm the milk 10 or 20 degrees before adding the acid. 7. Wash the test bottles at once after using by means of hot water and some washing powder. Rinse thoroughly in clean water to remove all traces of washing powder. 8. Remember the acid is poison and will burn the clothing or skin. If spilled on anything, pour on plenty of water and add some lime, soda, or washing powder to neutralize the acid. 21. Cream Testing. When cream is sold on the basis of the fat content, the samples for testing must be weighed rather than measured. 187. Relation of Transportation to Dairying. Not only are the relative positions of beef and dairy cattle determined by the problem of transportation, but in dairy regions the kind _ of product that is to be’ produced is controlled by the dis- 3 tance that the products must be shipped. Butter, cheese, 4 1U. S. Dept. Agr., Yearbook, 1915, p. 395. : ; THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAIRYING 209 milk flour, and condensed milk are concentrated for their value and can be shipped long distances. Cream for direct use can be shipped farther than milk because it is more con- centrated for its value. It is sometimes shipped from St. Percent lowe _ IIL. fees “Ohio. NY. | Mass Fic. 70. — Average farm prices for five years, 1910-1914. As we go eastward the prices of hay and corn rise faster than does the price of butter. This favors the production of butter where feed is cheap. Lawrence County, New York, to Washington, D. C., about 500 miles. | Milk isthe most bulky of the dairy products for its value and is also very perishable, so that it is produced nearest to the places where it is to be consumed. The city must reach out just far enough to obtain its necessary supply. Milk is now regularly shipped to New York City from points over 300 miles away. | Farms that are favorably situated for the sale of milk cannot afford to produce butter for sale on the wholesale mar- ket. Hay and other feeds are too valuable nearer the cities. 5 210 DAIRY FARMING One who under such conditions produces butter or cheese is using more expensive raw materials and gets little if any more for his product. In 1912 farmers who sold milk to cities in different parts of the United States received an average of 3.57 cents per quart above all shipping costs. The averages varied from 2.9 to 4.4 cents for different cities! In the same year the average farm price of butter was 26.1 cents per pound.? The price received for the milk was probably equal to 36 cents per pound for butter. | : How difficult it is for farmers near cities to compete in butter production with those who have cheaper feed is shown by a comparison of prices in New, York and Iowa. The average farm prices in 1914 are given in Table 24. ‘ TABLE 24. — AVERAGE FARM PrRIcES IN IowA AND IN NEw YorRK ? Iowa New YORK Per Cent of Iowa Price Baker! Se rs a eee , esol 119 BPE A citi ica Chae t eta AC Stars ol 10.10 14.60 ° 145 Seated: fee eek Ph ew eek DD .83 151 Butter was only 19 per cent higher on New York farms Ri than on Iowa farms, but hay was 45 per cent higher and corn 51 per cent higher than in Iowa. Other feeds are in about the same proportion. It is evident that butter and cheese production must shift to the regions of cheap feed. This shift is most strikingly shown by census figures. All 3 1913. 2 U.S. Dept. Agr., Yearbook, 1912, p. 686. 3 U.S. Dept. Agr., Yearbook, 1914, pp. 516, 570, 626. bas oe als roe, ee ae es ne Oe , ‘ : a 3 7 1U. S. Dept. Agr., Weekly News Letter to Crop Reporters, Sept. 24, | : j PaXs . v >, ae OP as eT THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAIRYING 211 of the northern states east of Indiana produced much less butter in 1909 than they did ten years before. The Chicago demand for milk was strong enough to cause a decrease in butter production in Illinois. In New York, butter production decreased 40 per cent and cheese production decreased 19 per cent in ten years. At CREAMERIES . EACH DOT REPRESENTS ONE CREAMERY - (ADAPTED FROM MAP PREPARED BY BUREAU OF ANIMAL INOUSTRY) Fic. 71. — Location of creameries in the United States.! the same time cheese production increased 88 per cent in Wisconsin, and butter production increased 50 per cent in Minnesota. The great center of butter production is west of Chicago. More butter is shipped from Chicago to the Eastern States than is produced in the nine North Atlantic States.2. Wis- consin, Iowa, and Minnesota are the leading butter states, in the order named. From the rapid rate of increase, it is probable that Minnesota will rank first at the next census 1U.8. Dept. Agr., Yearbook, 1915, p. 396. 2U.S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin 177. 212 DAIRY FARMING period. There is no reason to suppose that any other state will be a close competitor with Wisconsin in cheese production. TABLE 25.—Pounps BuTTER AND CHEESE MADE ON FARMS AND IN FactTorisEs! BUTTER CHEESE STATE | Per Cent Per Cent 1899 | 1909 rp teads ae: 1899 1909 New York | 115,408,222) 69,358,918 —40 130,010,584 | 105,584,947 -19 Wisconsin 106,552,649 | 131,085,193 23 79,384,298 | 148,906,910 88 Minnesota 82,363,315 | 123,551,515 50 These declines in New York do not mean that the dairy business has declined. They merely show that the readily EACH DOT REPRESENTS ONE CHEESE FACTORY * (ADAPTEO FROM MAP PREPARED BY BUREAU OF ANIMAL INOUSTRY) 1 Thirteenth Census, Vol. V, p. 489. 2 U.S. Dept. Agr., Yearbook, 1915, p. 397. ‘Increase THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAIRYING 213 taken place in butter and cheese production, the amount of milk sold to be consumed as milk has more than doubled (increased about 121 per cent). There is still much butter and cheese produced in New York and other eastern states and will be for some time to come. The amount of land that is good for pasture but not good for crops is more than enough to supply all the milk needed in the cities. The Fic. 73.— Distribution of cheese production in the United States. Most of the cheese is produced in regions that are cool, and that have good pastures on soils well supplied with lime.! remaining land is used for the production of cheese and but- ter. As the populations of the cities increase, the production | of both of these will decrease. Some butter will always be made because the milk supply cannot be just right for each day’s demand. The excess is usually made into butter. 188. Other Adjustment due to Transportation. Because of differences in prices of feed and kinds of products sold, the 1 Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 231. 214 DAIRY FARMING methods of dairying are very different in different regions. Near cities the cost of feed is so high and the value of the © protein in milk (skim-milk) is so great that the raising of | calves is very expensive. Many farmers who are thus sit- uated regularly buy their cows. ‘This is certain to continue to be the general practice. This provides a steady market for mature cows from regions where feed and milk are both cheaper. Such men can raise more calves than they need and can sell some of them as cows. Because of the expense of raising cows where feed is high priced, the tendency in such regions is to keep the cows longer. On New York farms, there were 7 cows for each | yearling heifer in 1910, indicating that the average cow is probably kept until she is 8 or 9 years old. In Wisconsin there was one yearling heifer for each 4.7 cows. In lowa — there was one heifer for each 3.6 cows. In these states the — : cows are kept about half as long-as they are in New York. a 189. Marginal Regions. There are of course many regions where the conditions are about equally favorable for each class of dairy products. The region may be at the end of — the milk-shipping region so that the freight charges on milk make the net price of milk about the same as that of butter. Such regions tend to prevent the price of milk from rising. — If it rises much, farmers stop making cheese or butter and — * ship the milk ; and if the price drops, they go back to butter: ~ or cheese Suton . 190. Effect of Distance to Railroad. Back from the railed 4 ! roads on which milk or cream is shipped there are some- ae times communities or farms that find it better to make butter than to haul milk too far. In many of the milk-sell- — _ ing regions there are such examples. Sometimes the farmers | , get calves from men living near the railroad, take them to 7 - “odie oa 2 . Mi . . * 7 he 8 et ak ST Neale hm cee as ~ 4 a ee naree . aS se a ala fa a Bh. THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAIRYING 215 the distant farm to be raised, and then sell the cows back to the dairymen nearer the railroad. It is often more profit- able for the farmers in such regions to codperate and haul the milk to the railroad. 191. Soil and Climate as Determining the Kind of Prod- uct. There are no important dairy regions that do not Per Cent 16 see area Jan. Feb. Mar Apr. May June July Aug Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Fic. 74. — Proportion of the year’s product made in each month. Record for cheese made in Wisconsin, butter received in Chicago, and milk and cream received in New York. Most of the cheese and butter is made in summer and stored for winter use. have good pastures. Cheese production appears to have a further limitation. Nearly all the cheese is produced in cool regions that have a limestone soil or that have a soil fairly well supplied with lime. Butter is produced on all kinds of soils, but most of the commercial product is from regions where the soil and climate will grow good pastures. 192. Kind of Product and Season for Production. The demand for milk in the cities is practically constant. Fifty- two per cent of the total milk shipped to New York City is Bis oh; DAIRY FARMING a received during the six months beginning May 1. But almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of the cream is used during the summer months.! e Because pasture is so much cheaper than winter feed, the = “4 products that are readily stored, such as condensed ne | Butter per lb. Milk per qt. — : 4.2¢ se ne a 40 gem a a mS he ao cle espe 56 Be Ea s 32 Ra Doea 32 AS ee = fo pe R8 28 26 2.6 24 24 PAE ba 22 Jan. Feb, Mar Apr May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Fig. 75. — Average farm prices of butter and of market milk at shippaal ae stations for the five years 1910-1914. In order to secure a constant supply _ of milk the prices in the different months have to be in proportion to the a 4 costs of production i in each month, but the amount of stored butter prevents — the winter price of butter from rising as. high as it otherwise would. 4 butter, cheese, and milk flour, are most largely produced on grass. About 75 per cent of the cheese in Wisconsin is pro-— ‘ duced in the six months beginning with May.2. Over three- — fifths (63 per cent) of the butter received in Cae is s received during these six months.’ | 1 The Milk Reporter, Feb., 1915, p. 16. 2? Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 231, p. 21. 3 Chicago Dairy Produce, Jan. 16, 1915, p. 5. THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAIRYING ZLt Of course some butter and cheese is produced in all months. The problem is whether to have the cows freshen in the spring, and thereby have most of the production made on pasture ; or to have them freshen in the fall, and therefore have most of the production made in winter. It is perfectly clear that the majority of farmers find that the summer dairy pays best for cheese and butter. Many of those who sell market milk have the cows freshen in the fall. TaBLE 26. — FivE-yeEAR AVERAGE FARM PrIcES oF BUTTER IN THE UNITED States, 1910-1914; anp THREE-YEAR AVERAGE Prices oF Market MILK at Suiprine Stations, 1913-1915 Mix ! Butter 2 Cents per Per Cent of Cents per Per Cent of Quart Dec. Price Pound Dec. Price January hs ATS 99 28.4 100 February . . 4.06. 97 27.2 96 March i... 3.90 93 25.9 92 PERERA. us 2 3.61 86 25.4 90 AM es ek 3.21 77 24.7 87 MIG: Vokes +. 3.16 75 2a 83 OT ae ee 3.33 79 22.9 81 Aueust i... 3.49 83 23.6 83 September . . 3.66 87 24.7 87 October es 3.98 95 25.8 91 November .. 4.14 _99 26.7 94 December .. 4.19 100 28.3 100 _ The average farm price of butter in the United States by - months is given in Table 26, also the average farm price of milk that is shipped to the leading cities. The highest price of milk is reached in December. The June price is 1 U.S. Dept. Agr., Weekly News Letter to Crop Correspondents, Sept. 24, 1913, Jan. 20, 1915, Apr. 28, 1915. 2U. 8. Dept. Agr., Yearbooks. ‘ 218 DAIRY FARMING only 75 per cent of the December price. Butter is less — variable in price. The butter held in storage prevents the — winter price from rising as high as it would otherwise go. — Under normal conditions this stored butter prevents the winter price from rising high enough to cover the increased cost of feed as it must do in the case of milk. The winter y prices of butter and cheese are based not primarily on the — cost of winter feed, but on the cost of summer feed plus the a cost of storage. In spite of this difference in favor of production of butter on pasture, there are some farms that can produce it in win- | | ter to the best advantage. Occasionally a farmer sells but- _ ter at retail at such a high winter price that it more than — covers the higher feed cost. If the farmer is very short of F pasture and has an abundance of cheap winter feed, winter production may pay. Sometimes the pressure of other work 5 in the summer is enough to more than offset the difference in _ feed cost. Occasionally a farmer has such profitable summer _ work and so much of it that he cannot afford to milk cows _ in the summer, but may be able to milk them for butter pa ‘" duction in winter. a 193. Animal Unit Defined» In order to compare the — ; amount of live-stock on different farms, it is necessary to g reduce all kinds of animals to some common basis. One ~ cow, bull, or horse is called an animal unit. Two head of — young stock are counted as one unit. Seven sheep, fourteen lambs, five hogs, ten pigs, one hundred hens, are each ~ counted as one animal unit. In each case the numbers given represent a group that eats approximately as much food — as a cow or horse, and produces manure worth as much as ~ that produced by a cow or horse. Similarly, the number of q cattle units on a farm are the approximate equivalent in — THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAIRYING 219 grown cattle. To find the number of cattle units add half the number of young stock to the number of cows and bulls. 7 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. Is your region more or less favorable for cattle production than the average of the country? Consider the ease with which per- manent pastures are maintained, length of the pasture season, amount of pasture land that is not good for crop growing, amount of good forage crops grown, cost of winter feed, and total cost of feed for the entire year. 2. Is the region relatively better for beef or for dairy cattle? Some of the points to consider are: cost of feed, coolness of the cli- mate, whether the pasture grass is luxuriant enough to maintain a good flow of milk, and the market for dairy products. 3. What form of dairy products are usually most profitable in this region? Why? . 4. From the railroad agent find the amounts shipped in a car- load of cattle, of butter, of milk, of cream. What is the freight on a ear-load of each to the nearest large city? Use the same city in each case. 5. From farmers, find about how many pounds of feed are repre- sented in a car-load of each of the above products. 6. From the censusreport for your state, fillin the following table : Number of farms in the state « Number of dairy cows Number of dairy cows per farm Quantity of milk produced Quantity of milk produced per cow! Pounds of butter made on farms Pounds of butter made in factories Total pounds of butter Pounds of cheese made on farms Pounds of cheese made in factories Total pounds of cheese Amount of milk sold Amount of cream sold Amount of butter-fat sold 1 Notice that this is too low because some heifers that are too young to give milk are included with cows. 220 DAIRY FARMING Total value of all dairy products sold Average value of dairy products sold per farm es 7: Compared with the preceding census, which of the following = are increasing and which decreasing : number of cows; butter mad ; on farms; butter made in factories; cheese. In each case give the — reasons for the change. " 8. A similar study may be made for the county. | 9. How may steers and bulls born before 1909, and bornin 1909, are there in your state or county for each 100 dairy cows? Compare — with Table 23, page 207. What proportion do dairy cows Tenreay ae of all cattle? Compare with Table 22, page 203. 3 10. How many beef and dairy cows were there in your state or is county? How many heifers born in 1909? How many cows for — each heifer? Compare with the figures on page 214. aa A 11. Are the calves in your region raised, or sold for veal? I a sold, at what age? a 12. Does your region produce all its dairy cows? Does it pre duce any to be shipped to other regions? | ea 13. About what proportion of the cows in the dairy er of your region are replaced each year? iy 14. At what time of the year is most of the milk, butter, or cheese of your region produced? Why? ‘ COLLATERAL READING Farm Management, G. F. Warren, pp. 43-103, 276-278. CHAPTER 10 SYSTEMS OF FARMING ON DAIRY FARMS G. F. WARREN Darry farms may be classified according to the cropping system that they use, also according to whether they raise or buy their feed, and may be compared in many other ways. A few of these problems of organization are here discussed. Crops FOR FEED 194. Corn Silage. The most striking change in the dairy industry in the last century has come in connection with the use of the silo. This provides a succulent feed in the winter and makes it possible to obtain a better production of. milk at that time of year. The silo is a means of saving corn- stalks in the best possible form for winter use. It does not increase the value of the grain. In fact, there is always some loss in the silo, and the cost of putting corn into the silo is more than the cost of husking from standing stalks. Aside from its value as a succulent feed, it is primarily a substitu- tion of corn-stalks for hay. In regions where the season is too short for maturing corn, it may still be grown for the silo. In arid regions corn and other crops that would not produce much grain are nevertheless of value for silage. Few crops except corn and similar plants are used gener- ally for the silo. Crops that make good hay are best stored 221 222 DAIRY FARMING as hay, because hay can be handled more cheaply and be- | cause the hay crops pack so loosely in the silo that the losses are considerable. The higher the price of hay, the more important a silo becomes. The more general use of silos in the East is pri- marily due to the high price of hay. The average farm price of hay in New York is 86 per cent above that in Ne- braska, but in every region the price is rising so that interest in silos is general. Next to the price of hay the number of cattle is the pri- — mary consideration in building a silo. A silo that holds much less than 75 to 100 tons is expensive for its capacity. But such a silo will furnish feed for 20 to 30 cattle during the winter months. It is usually not profitable to have a silo for less than 10 cattle. If one has over 20 cattle in a region where corn grows well, a silo is usually profitable. — Between these limits the price of hay, the amount of money — available, the machinery that must be purchased, and ~ whether winter or summer dairying is followed, will deter- mine whether or not a silo will be profitable. In Livingston County, New York, only 7 per cent of the farmers who had — fewer than 15 cattle units had silos, but 83 per cent of those | who had 25 or more cattle units had silos. Silage costs more than the estimates often given. In the Eastern States it usually costs about $4 to $5 per ton. It is often considered to be worth one-third as much as hay. © In the corn-belt a ton of silage often contains about five bushels of corn. To compare the cost of silage with the value of corn husked from the standing stalks, we must add to the value of the corn grain the extra cost of putting it in the silo, and interest on the money invested in the silo, and an- — nual depreciation of the silo. These extra costs often amount — SYSTEMS OF FARMING ON DAIRY FARMS . 223 to $1 per ton. On this basis silage usually costs $3 to $4 per ton. 3 195. Soiling Crops. Sometimes dairy cattle are kept in the barn, and green feed is brought to them rather than provide pasture for them. This system is practiced in some places in Europe and occasionally in America. The system will keep more cows on a given area of land, and it is therefore frequently advocated by persons who do not un- derstand American farming. When land is very high in price, or labor very cheap, it is a good system. On the edge of cities it sometimes pays because land for pasture would be too expensive. The high price received for the milk may make it possible to follow this expensive method and yet make a profit. The large amount of labor involved is shown by results at the New Jersey Experiment Station. The equivalent of 50 cows was kept for 6 months on various soiling crops. During that time 278 tons of green crops were hauled to the barn. The cost of the labor to haul these crops to the barn, to say nothing of the cost of growing them, would be more than the entire cost of pasture in many dairy regions. It often pays to cut some corn-stalks or to give some other feed at times when the pasture is short, as discussed on page 128, but this is very different from fol- lowing a soiling system. Such feeding is supplementing pasture, not trying to do without it. Ziven when land be- comes high in price and labor cheap, it is not probable that a soiling system will be genérally used in America, because corn silage is cheaper and is as good. Any system of barn feeding during the pasture season means that milk is being produced on the winter basis of cost, whereas the product must be sold at the summer price, which is much lower. 196. Roots. Mangels, sugar beets, or other root crops 224 DAIRY FARMING are much grown for stock food in Europe, but in regions where corn silage can be grown, such crops are not likely to be raised extensively, because corn silage is nearly as good and is cheaper. The cool moist climate of Europe and the cheap labor are favorable for growing roots. Our climate is better adapted to corn, and our labor is so costly that root crops are expensive feed. The farmer who keeps too small a herd to justify him in having a silo, sometimes finds that it pays to raise root crops to give a succulent feed in winter. Roots are a very expensive feed, but a few pounds a day will often increase the milk yield enough to pay. Per- sons who make advanced registry tests usually raise mangels or beets to feed to the cows while on test. Root crops also have a place in regions where the season is so short that corn silage cannot be raised. 197. Legumes. The importance of raising alfalfa, clover, or some other legume has already been emphasized. Many farms in the eastern half of the United States are better adapted to clover than to alfalfa, but where alfalfa grows without too much difficulty it is preferred. Cowpeas are the most common legume in the South. Soybeans, vetch, and many other legumes are grown by some farmers, but in most parts of the North, alfalfa or clover is more profitable. 198. Pasture. The common pasture plants in the north- eastern quarter of the United States are Kentucky blue-grass and white clover. On land that is deficient in lime, Canada blue-grass or redtop is often the chief pasture plant. Blue- grass requires several years to form a good sod. If the pas- ture land is well supplied with lime and is fairly fertile, the pasture usually requires little attention, but if it is not fertile, more care is necessary. In the South the common pasture plant is Bermuda grass. SYSTEMS OF FARMING ON DAIRY FARMS 225 199. Home-grownGrain. In the corn-belt it nearly always pays to raise more corn than the cattle eat. Since there is an abundance of corn, it should be fed as liberally as possible and yet have a good ration. In the Eastern States and north of the corn-belt farm-grown oats are often ground for cow feed. Oats are nearly always too high in price to be a profitable feed to buy, but the costs of marketing the oats and hauling other feeds to take their place are often enough to make it pay to feed the oats that one has. CROPPING SYSTEMS ON Datry FARMS 200. Principles of a Good Cropping System. The great majority of the dairy cows are in the northeastern quarter of the United States (see Fig. 68), east of central Nebraska and north of Washington, D.C. Most of this region is adapted to timothy, blue-grass, and clover. Permanent pastures of blue-grass and white clover are common. ‘The usual cropping system is: Corn or other tilled crops on sod land for one or more years. | Small grain for one or two years with timothy and clover — seeded in the last year. Hay for one or more years, or hay followed by pasture. This is an ideal cropping system for the dairy farm. The three different classes of crops supplement each other in the control of weeds. The corn furnishes silage or grain or both. The small grain gives its best yield and at least cost when grown after a tilled crop. The grasses and clover are started by seeding in the small grain at very low cost. If the land is adapted to clover, this helps to supply the protein that is not provided in sufficient quantity by the other feeds grown in the rotation. Q 226 . DAIRY FARMING Everywhere a good rotation for a dairy farm should if possible provide clover, alfalfa, or some other legume for hay and should provide an abundance of roughage and pas- ture. It should if possible provide a cash crop, or a feeding crop for some other class of animals, such as corn for hog feed. | 201. Examples of Rotations. There are many variations of this rotation plan that follow the general principles given Fic. 76. — A good basis for profitable dairying; high-grade cows on a good blue-grass pasture; corn for the silo in the background; clover in an adjoining field; timothy and oats also raised. . above. In the southern part of the region described above, from southern Pennsylvania to Kansas, a common rotation is corn, winter wheat, clover. A little farther north, corn is removed too late for the planting of wheat, therefore oats are grown, following corn. In the Northeastern States, corn, potatoes, cabbage, and other tilled crops are usually followed by oats in which grass is seeded. The hay is usually left for about three years. In this region hay does well and is high in price. SYSTEMS OF FARMING ON DAIRY FARMS 227 In the best part of the corn-belt, corn is raised for several years in succession because this is the most important crop. A good rotation for much of this region is corn two years, followed by one year of oats in which clover and timothy are seeded. This may be cut for one or two years, or if there is not a permanent blue-grass pasture, it may be cut for hay one year and pastured one year. In regions where alfalfa is grown, systems of cropping are not so definitely established. Perhaps the ideal dairy region is one that is naturally adapted to corn and alfalfa and that has permanent pastures of blue-grass and white clover. In the South, a good rotation is cotton one or two years, followed by corn. The corn is followed by one year of oats and cowpeas, the oat crop being harvested in time to raise a crop of cowpeas the same year. Cowpeas or some other crop is sometimes planted between the rows of corn. This system, together with Bermuda grass pastures, provides ~ legumes, corn, pasture, and a cash crop. The legume and pasture are, however, more expensive to raise than are the grasses of the North. There is room for a great develop- ment of dairying in the South, but the greatest dairy centers will remain in the regions where grass grows more readily. These are but afew of the great variety of cropping sys- tems followed on different dairy farms. CasH Crops AND FEED RAISED 202. Feed and Cash Crops. There are many ways in which the type of farming on dairy farms may be described. Some of the most important comparisons are based on the extent to which feed is purchased and the amount of other products sold. The following are some of the different methods : 228 DAIRY FARMING 1. All feed bought, no crops raised, nothing but milk and discarded cows sold. 2. Nothing but roughage raised. 3. Roughage and all or part of the grain raised. 4. Same as 2, but with some cash crop or other product sold. 5. Same as 3, with some cash crop or other product sold. 6. With any of the above methods, the cows may be raised or may be purchased. 7. The cows may be pure-bred so that there is a consid- erable income from the sale of stock. In general, each of the above types is more profitable than the preceding, provided the conditions are favorable for it. 203. All Feed Purchased. Some dairy cows are kept in cities. Most of these are kept to supply milk for home use, but some large dairies are maintained where all feed must be ~ purchased. Usually the cows are fed largely on factory by- products that are not readily shipped. But sometimes or- dinary feeds are purchased. The high price received for the milk sometimes makes such an enterprise profitable. Calves are very rarely raised in cities, because feed is too expensive. Ordinarily it is cheaper to produce the milk in the country where pastures are available. It costs less to ship milk than it does to sake the hay and other feed required to make it. 204. Nothing but Roughage Raised. This system is very common in the hilly and mountainous parts of the Eastern States. A better system is not easy to devise for some regions where the land is not adapted to any crop ex- cept hay and pasture and where the fields are all so small 3 and rough as to prevent the profitable growth of other crops. Because of the small amount of field work, it is not often SYSTEMS OF FARMING ON DAIRY FARMS 229 profitable to employ much hired help. The farmer with the help of one member of the family at chore time can milk 20 or 25 cows and, therefore, under this system, the women often help with the milking. The farmer can do the re- mainder of the day’s work alone. In haying time he may need a little extra help. Such farmers usually find that it pays best to have the cows freshen in the spring so as to pro- duce most of the milk in summer and thus reduce the grain bill. One of the important reasons for winter dairying is to have the summer free for field work, but on farms where little field work is done this is no advantage. Under these conditions the milk production per cow is the most important problem because profits depend almost en- tirely on the cow. It is sometimes possible to find some other product besides milk that can be raised without much extra cost. Berries, eggs, honey, or hay will often add much to the income. Sometimes pure-bred stock is kept and a good profit made from the sale of the surplus animals. 205. Roughage and Grain Raised. Where the land is good enough to raise grain, this system pays much better - than the preceding one because the grain feed can be raised without having to hire much extra labor, and with practically the same number of horses that must be kept anyway. (See Farm Records on page 281.) 206. Roughage and Cash Crops Raised. One of the most profitable types of dairy farming is the combination of intensive cash crops with a dairy. The manure is used to grow potatoes, cabbages, apples, tobacco, hops, peas, or sweet corn for canning factories, or some other crop for sale. Where the soil and markets are favorable for one or two of these crops, this system usually pays much better than trying to raise the grain feed. It is, of course, much 230 DAIRY FARMING better to raise the grain feed than nothing. But if instead of raising the grain, one can raise cash crops that will pay | the feed bill several times over, he should certainly choose the latter course. Hay is another good cash crop for dairy farms near large cities. Most of the highly successful dairy farms in New York and New England sell some crops, as do many of the farms in other sections. Some of these farms also raise all their grain feed, but most of them buy a consider- able part of it. - (See Farm Records on pages 242 and 285.) Farther from the cities the cash crops are more likely to be grain or grain marketed through hogs. This is the most commonly profitable type of dairy farming in the corn-belt. It is certain to increase greatly in that region. All of the roughage and most of the grain is raised for all of the farm, stock. Oe oboe 4 | 350 bushels Perera pamys. SS che poem ete at 2 14 | 252 bushels IOS sya bs FA saa’ gna ee 1 50 bushels Peas for canning factory Se eee aie Me 14 14 tons Sweet corn for canning factory . ira 8 24 tons Sweet corn stalks and pea vines put in silo — oe ae ee - Ne we ee PPS RENTING DAIRY FARMS 243 A SuccessFuL TENANT FarRM IN WESTERN NEw YorK — Continued Receipts Milk . Cattle sales and increased inventory Poultry and eggs . Hogs . ; Wheat Oats so. . Potatoes. Beans Apples Peas . Sweet corn . Expenses Labor Grass seed . Feed . Fertilizer , Machinery up-keep : Building up-keep . Harvesting . Twine ‘ Threshing and coal ‘ Insurance BARES) as Receipts less expenses . . . : Interest on tenant’s capital @ 5% : Tenant’s labor income . Landlord’s per cent on investment . TENANT LANDLORD $1000 $1000 30 30 60 60 116 116 343 343 168 49 49 PAR Vis 252 30 175 175 84. 84 $2139 $2277 $ 200 40 $ 40 150 150 60 60 20 120 20 10 24 24 8 9 36 36 $ 568 $ 439 $1571 $1838 $ 88 $1483 ge Le This farm is a large diversified business with good cows. Most of the feed raised and nearly half of the income is derived from the sale of crops. The provisions of the lease are the usual ones for a farm of this type. With a farm of | this size and with good cows both parties are doing well. 244 DAIRY FARMING A SuccessruLt TENANT Farm or 190 Acres THAT 1s HIGHLY SPECIALIZED. THE LANDLORD FURNISHES ALL THE Cows CAPITAL TENANT LANDLORD Uy gi ee ee er Ate ey es bed By $13,300 Machinery and tools Si PN a tgs ea tage 5 eS 375 Weed ind Su pplios 9. te eee eat haan 300 300 COWS: 125 a PR ALD Gata a, eS Live Heifers and calves . . Den baie ince 210 Bole. Bao Wie ws te eo hehe ates ieee 200 BE AROESES rhea noone ie Noe reek ae 350 175 WGOISY cer ike x. at ae eee ea eer a OSE ie oak os Pe eek ale ee 8 1s es oo eg Aaa cee eS dc hs eee Bie . FAIA aie Mey iis wait oes 4 4 Horseshoeing ign fa 5 Ba ae 15 PeNGH- SOPVICO 6 soe wa eh 10 OSS RSL RMS DR EOE En ca 38 CHILL Dis CAI ai SR Pa a ee ea a 8 8 Threshing . . ane 10 10 Fuel for threshing and silo filing oy 5 5) Insurance . . : eee 10 10 CESS SS a Dil te aa ea 66 66 $ 634 $ 312 Receipts less expenses . . Perot Seo $1329 Interest on tenant’s capital at 5% Or ant ape. GO Tenant’s laborincome . . oh. | L060 Landlord’s per cent on investment 8.1 QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. What are the usual systems of renting in your region? 2. Do the systems of rental encourage the keeping of stock? Do tenant farms have as much stock as farms operated by owners? 3. Make a list of all the persons you can find who have re- cently changed from hired man to tenant. On the average how many years did they spend as hired men? 4. Make a list of as many persons as possible who have changed from tenant to owner in the past few years. On the average how many years have they been tenants? 5. Write a lease that seems to you to be fair to both parties and that gives a reasonable consideration to maintenance of the fertility of the land. COLLATERAL READING | Farm Management, G. F. Warren, pp. 321-329. Cyclopedia of Agriculture, L. H. Bailey, Vol. IV, pp. 170-185. Farm Leases in Iowa, pees Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 159. CHAPTER 12 COSTS OF PRODUCTION AND METHODS OF MARKETING G. F. WARREN Cost oF PRODUCTION 217. Cost of Producing Milk. Reliable figures on the cost of keeping cows are available for two regions that repre- sent decidedly different dairy conditions. Delaware County, near New York City, is a hilly region where the pasture season is short. Practically all grain is purchased. Because of the nearness to large cities, hay is very high in price. In this county the average cost per cattle unit for over six thousand cows was $99. The year whose records are here quoted was one of unusually high feed prices even for the region. In the following year the cost was $88. -All the costs of keeping the cows and of the calves raised were charged directly to the cows, raising calves being one means of offsetting depreciation on cows. How near these two balance in this region is shown by the fact that the re- turns from cattle and hides sold were only $1 per cow above the amounts spent for cattle purchased. This region is fairly typical for New England and for hilly regions in other states near the large eastern cities. Rice County, Minnesota, represents a region of very low- priced feed. The figures were obtained several years ago when feed was cheaper than it is to-day. Hay is worth less 246 COSTS OF PRODUCTION AND METHODS OF MARKETING 247 than one-third as much as in regions like Delaware County, near New York City. Because of the very low price of feed, the average cost of keeping a cow was only $60. TABLE 28. — Cost or Propucine MILK ; eens Rice Co.? 6422 Cows Minn. Per Cattle Unit Per Cow Quantities eoaties fain bod 2 i et ..5) wt ea) Sf 1662 864 Hours human labor ioe ite Pet 130 133 Pounds milk produced percow . . .| 4514 5252 Pounds butter-fat percow ... . 208 188 Costs 1S RE SSS RE et a a $66.60 $27.50 2 ELL TN eg GaSe oR SR oe Bie Se nent, ae a 45 ‘ Buildings . . Basie ust ae 4.41 2.46 Dairy equipment . MGT LAL: Nesta tare 41 08 ICUSTRS © 2 7@ Dg aienah aah tes ce | aaa 2.94 2.300 PPI LAGE te Vo hi a eh nk Oo hs 18.26 eRe LOOP st A ks eee ea ake, .20 18.66 Perrine “HAT OSS eS es ee eh eS 5.01 MMCTISGN OSesrh a ecte. pater cae ot F<. > 2. ck 3 1.98 IME ORION Hie OLN tS, 3 3.19 Miscellaneous. . aya 91 3.28 Less cattle increase and net sales bebe, .92 CRANE COE D1, 02. tot al hae ee te hee GS $98.57 $60.00 It will be observed that the costs other than feed are al- most exactly the same in the two regions. The average costs other than feed for keeping cows under farm conditions vary widely on different farms, but in the great majority of cases for grade herds are between $30 and $40 per cow. In 1 Report of the Proceedings of the American Farm Management Asso- ciation, November, 1913. 2 Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 124. 3 This item included elsewhere. 4 Charge for this item not given. 248 DAIRY FARMING pure-bred herds the costs are usually much more. feed, labor is the most important cost. Next to The importance of having the farm and buildings so arranged as to facilitate work is at once apparent. TaBLE 29. — Cost or Propucinc MiLtkK on New York Farms! Quantities Number herds Number cows i Number cows per herd. Number cattle units per herd . bait Average value of cows Pounds milk per cow Value milk per cow ; Pounds grain per cattle Tey eee Pounds dry “forage per eattle unit . Pounds silage per ‘cattle MOG. Se Hours man cattle unit Costs per cattle unit Grain Dry forage Silage, ete. Pasture Bedding Saath Dae Man ‘labo? > 4 Sao oot Horse labor . Equipment labor Interest : Buildings . Breeding fees Veterinary and medicine ‘Miscellaneous labor: per GRADE HERDS 1913 17 297.5 17.5 23.9 $71.10 6185 $99.46 1551 3028 6554 116 $22.71 17.76 12.90 4.96 2.22 19.26 2.64 91 3.09 2.81 .003 20. 2.13 1914 8 189.6 23.7 30.9 $70.31 5584 $86.42 1479 2480 5540 100 $18.99 12.90 11.74 4.43 1.33 16.63 3.77 6 2.95 2.04 06 .09 1.95 PURE-BRED HERDS 1913 5 110.5 22.1 32.8 $215.90 7000 $107.70 2339 3216 6791 161 $34.18 23.00 14.33 4.52 2.59 27.86 3.22 = £4 11.21 2.34 8.21, 05 6.92 1914 $105.10 2295 3200 8980 183 $34.24 16.88 17.47 4.15 2.70 30.78 2.31 a 15.90 3.27 1.76 .O9 10.16 1 New York State Department of Agriculture, Circular 130, p. 82. COSTS OF PRODUCTION AND METHODS OF MARKETING 249 TaBLe 29.— Cost or Propucinc Mik on New York Farms — Continued GRADE HeErRDS ; PURE-BRED HERDS 1913 1914 1913 1914 Summary MO aida ra e'g Cee a le POS.3S $48.06 | $76.03 | $72.74 aR aon 15.) oe k's 19.26 16.63 27.86 30.78 iL Ce a on esi 14.46 13.25 35.97 37.48 Total $92.05 $77.94 | $139.86 | $141.00 Returns per cattle unit PUSAN yt eric Fe en) a Lh Rae I $66.24 | $72.61 | $61.73 Increase and net sales. . 18.02 is.o¢ 87.01 90.47 He C11 hae AR AO a a A 10.59 7.87 10.11 10.12 Miscellaneous ..... .39 .06 1.79 1.95 Total $101.81 $87.54 | $171.52 | $164.27 Profit per cattle unit . . . $9.76 $9.60 | $31.66 | $23.27 From these costs the value of the manure should be de- ducted to find the returns that the average farmer would have to get in order to make a profit on cows. For Rice County the value of the calf would also have to be deducted. This value is included in the Delaware County figures. Accurate results of cost accounts on a number of New York farms including 673 cows are given in Table 29. These farms were not especially selected but are somewhat larger and better managed than the average farm. Most of them were located in parts of the state where feed is somewhat cheaper than in Delaware County. The accounts are with the entire dairy herd considered as a unit. For the grade herds there is a surprisingly close agree- ment with Table 28 as to costs other than feed. The pure- bred herds cost more in every way, but the returns are more 1 Notice that this is total milk divided by the number of cattle units. The value of the milk per cow is given above. 250 DAIRY FARMING than enough to cover the greater cost. The pure-bred herds on the average pay best. ea 218. Cost of Raising Heifers. The cost of raising heifers ona Wisconsin farm that raised about twenty a year was kept for five years. The food costs to raise a heifer to two years of age varied from $39 to $42. The total costs varied from $60 to $65 in different years. The average cost of raising one group of about twenty heifers is given in Table 30. To these costs the value of the heifer at birth should be added and the value of the manure produced in the barn subtracted. Of course, the exact figures should not be expected to apply to another farm, but the comparative costs are worth studying. TABLE 30. — AVERAGE Cost oF RAISING JERSEY HEIFERS TO Two Years OLp oN A WISCONSIN Farm } Pages | Seconp Year | Toran 2 YEARS Quantities used Whole milk: db. 3. 342 342 Skmn-patte: Ths Pata 3165 3165 Grain Abi 2-1. ee ei ee ee 547 547 Siaee, [bse aes were 353 3250 3603 Mixed. War, die \Sscer ven es 857 1120 1977 Cora:staver,: lbs. 7 708 & 672 672 Days pashures lA ho 123 171 294 Hours man labor : . . 40 23 63 Costs Weed cake ee $24.58 $16.11 $40.69 Bedding i040 Pee 1.00 2.00 3.00 Labor 2 “os ate eater a 5.14 2.86 | 8.00 fnterdst: 3 2a eee eee (eg Bites 3.65 Buildings eee tay! 5 2 Loy 81 2.38 Kouipment:')" sera R939) ; .0O Loss by discarding . . A2 42 Miscellaneous ..... 1.99 1.38 3.08 Total $35.95 | $26.11 $62.06 1U. 8S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin 49. COSTS OF PRODUCTION AND METHODS OF MARKETING 251 The quantities of feed used in growing heifers at the Ohio Experiment Station and estimated costs are given in Tables Fig. 77. — The heifers for which the costs of production are here given in Table 30. 31 and 32. These heifers were fed a little more whole milk and were fed over twice as much grain as the ones men- tioned above. The costs were therefore higher.! : The costs other than feed vary from $21 to $28 in the dif- ferent results here quoted. The feed costs vary from $41 to $58. In the States east of Ohio feed is higher in price, so that this cost is likely to be more. In some irrigated regions where alfalfa hay is very cheap, the feed cost may be lower. Where skim-milk is not available the feed cost is somewhat higher, but need not be prohibitive, as is shown on pages 116 to 118. 1 Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 289. 252 DAIRY FARMING TaBLE 31.— Cost or RaisinG 29 JERSEY HEIFERS AT THE OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION. Average weights; at birth 55 lb.; at one year 472 lb.; at 2 years 758 lb. RaIsING TO i eres SEcOND YEAR | ToTat 2 YEARS Quantities used Whole mille: Ib. o222 SS. 469 469 Skim-milk, Ib. . . . . 2918 87 3005 Rcpretd nn ERTS Fine eee Gare 564 — 785 1349 Nae. ADs ecm eee ae 444 2426 2870 gE ryt | Rana Dine Pe ar bat _767 1038 1805 SiS VGR 1 ate 232 ops ; 37 254 291 Days pasture: of ©. ~ sic 118 159 277 Costs Magee 350 Sook Sex eee” Ss $27.39 S212 $54.51 Other costs estimated . 12.79 14.89 27.68 .% Total $40.18 $42.01 $82.19 TaBLE 32.—Cost or Ratsinc 22 HoustTEIn HEIFERS AT THE Oun10 EXPERIMENT STATION. Average weights ; at birth 82 lb.; at 1 year 571 lb.; at 2 years — 962 lb. - RAISING TO 1 Year Oxrp Seconp YEAR | ToraL 2 YEARS Quantities used | : | Whole milk,‘ Ibs. 3.2628 445 445 Slim-milk, Th. fais 2661 . 174 ys25 4; Grain, Ibs. fe eae 647 870 1517 Silage, ibs c- ts eee ee 656 2247 2903 © aay: Vb: 35.7 ve ee ee 796. 1419 F215 Stover; Ibo es ee 11 232 243 Days pasture 754s 121 151 272 Costs : Meee 25° 8 tae cae $28.57 $29.55 — $58.12 Other costs estimated . 12.79 14.89 27.68 Total $41.36 $44.44 $85.80 COSTS OF PRODUCTION AND METHODS OF MARKETING 258 MARKETING DartrRy PRopuctTs 219. Ways of Marketing. The milk supply in many small towns and cities is retailed by dairymen who produce part or all of the milk that they sell. There are some oppor- tunities for retailing milk in regions where dairying is not a general industry. Such regions are likely to have beef or dual-purpose cattle, and the farmers are not likely to know how to care for a dairy animal. One who has good cows and who knows how to care for them often has a good opportu- nity in such a town. Every town that is near to farm land offers an opportunity for some retail dairyman. Some- times there are too many in the business so that the business will not pay for the time spent, but retailing frequently offers a good chance for an energetic man. _ Many farmers make butter to retail in a near-by town or to be shipped by parcel post. The prices received are some- times enough to make this a good method of selling. The great majority of dairymen have to sell on a general market at prices fixed by the purchaser. Sometimes the conditions are such that the selling part of the business calls for little thought, but often there are some points to study. Coéperation in-hauling milk is often a great saving of time. | 3 If the price of milk varies with the fat content, the farmer should be able to estimate which is the best kind of milk to produce. If he has more than one market, he should be able to make similar estimates. In regions where market milk sells for so much that one cannot afford to sell the product in any other way, one often sees farmers who persist in selling butter-fat or butter long after this has ceased to be the best practice. } | 254 DAIRY FARMING 220. Value of Skim-milk in Cities. When milk is sold to the creamery, the fat basis is, of course, the proper basis of payment. Argument is often made that payment for market milk should be on the same basis. The public is often ac- cused of ignorance because it refuses to pay for milk in pro- portion to the fat contained. For human food, protein is probably the most important constituent of milk. How much the cities are willing to pay for skim-milk is shown by the high price that they are willing to pay for milk when they could get the same butter- fat in cream at much less cost. If the other constituents were in proportion to the fat, then the percentage of fat would be in proportion to the value as human food, but the richness in protein does not increase so rapidly as the fat. Common retail prices in New York City are 9 cents for milk, 40 cents per quart for 23 per cent cream, and 38 cents per pound for butter.t!. On the average, milk contains about 3.7 per cent fat. At these prices the butter-fat costs about $1.13 per pound in milk, 82 cents in .cream, and 44 cents in butter. Evidently, milk is not purchased merely for its butter-fat, else butter-fat in cream would sell at the same price that it does in milk. The value that the public places on fat, as measured by the price of cream, shows that about 27 per cent of the amount paid for milk is paid for food that is contained in the skim-milk. Stated in another way, if the value of the fat is measured by the price of cream, then the fat in a quart of milk is worth 6.5 cents, and the skim-milk sells for 2.5 cents. Or, if the fat in milk is considered to have the same 1 Prices furnished by the Borden Company and verified from several other sources. COSTS OF PRODUCTION AND METHODS OF MARKETING 255 value as the fat in butter, then the fat in a quart of milk is worth 3.5 cents, and the skim-milk sells for 5.5 cents. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. For each of the regions given in Tables 28 and 29 find the feed cost and all other costs and the per cent that the feed cost is of the total cost. Compare the feed costs in the different regions. 2. At the prices of feeds in this region, find the approximate value of the feed required to feed a cow, as given in Table 28. 3. What per cent is the feed of the total cost of raising heifers, as given in Table 30. 4. At prices of feed and milk in this region, find the approxi- mate value of the feed used to raise a heifer, as given in Table 30. 5. Using the weights given on page 298, how many pounds are there in one gallon of milk? In one gallon of 35 per cent cream? How many quarts in 100 pounds of milk? In 100 pounds of 20 per cent cream ? 6. In what proportion tal milk testing 3.2 per cent fat and milk testing 4.5 per cent fat be mixed to make milk testing 4 per cent ? 7. Using figures from page 298, how much dry eters is there in 40 quarts of skim-milk? In 100 pounds? 8. Some animal food is necessary for good success with hens. Meat scrap is often purchased for this purpose at about $3 per hundred pounds. It is also fed to hogs. It contains about 90 per cent dry matter, but the dry matter is not so valuable as that in skim-milk. If the dry matter in skim-milk is worth the same as that in meat scrap, what would 100 pounds of skim-milk be worth? What would it be worth per quart? 9. A farmer is offered 30 cents a pound for butter-fat, or $1.30 per hundred for whole milk. His average test is 3.8 per cent. Which is the higher price? Would the skim-milk be worth the dif- ference as feed for hogs or poultry ? 10. What would be received for 100 pounds of 4 per cent milk when sold at each of the following prices: a. 3 cents per quart? 'b. $1.50 per 100 pounds? c. 35 cents per pound for butter-fat? d. 30 cents per pound for butter? — 256 ; DAIRY FARMING Considering the value of skim-milk and the labor of making butter, which would be the best way to sell? 11. The prices paid for milk by the Borden Company from April, 1915, to March, 1916, were as follows, in the region where the freight to New York is 26 cents per 40-quart can. BuUTTER-FAT 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 April 1.31 1.46 1.61 1.76 1.91 May. 1.06 i Bed | 1.36 tod: 1.66 June. 1.00 1.15 1.30 1.45 1.60 July . 1.16 1.31 1.46 1.61 1.76 August. 1.32 1.47 1.62 Bye" 1.92 September 1.41 1.56 hd 1.86 2.01 October 1.70 1.85 2.00 2.05 2.30 November . 1.80 1.95 2.10 aan 2.40 December . 1.80 1.95 2.10 2.25 2.40 January 1.70 1.85 2.00 2.16 2.30 February . 1.65 1.80 1.95 2.10 2.25% March . 1.60 175 1.90 2.05 2.20 The above prices will be paid to dairymen where they maintain, during this contract, conditions scoring not less than 25 per cent on equipment and 43 per cent on methods, according to the New York Department of Health Score Card, as scored by the Company’s rep- resentatives. Dairymen scoring less than 25 per cent on equip- ment and 43 per cent on methods, will receive ten cents per 100 pounds less than the above schedule. Milk of intermediate com- position was paid for at corresponding prices. Calculate the average price for the year for milk with each per cent of fat. What is the average price for fat in 3 per cent milk? What is paid per pound for the additional fat in 4 per cent milk? In 5 per. cent milk? What is the price for the additional fat aboye 3 per cent in all cases? 12. If skim-milk is worth as much as found in problem 8, at what price would butter have to be sold to bring as much as the average price paid by the Borden Company for 3 per peak milk? For 5 per cent milk? 13. Using the average production given on page 42, what would be the value of the milk for one year for a cow of each breed? ;. COSTS OF PRODUCTION AND METHODS OF MARKETING 257 14. Find the average price paid at retail in a near-by city for butter, cream with known fat content, and milk. What price is paid for fat in each form? COLLATERAL READING Farm Management, G. F. Warren, pp. 440-493. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin 49. CHAPTER 13 OTHER IMPORTANT FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN ‘DAIRY FARMING G. F. WARREN Ways oF MEASURING PROFITS 221. The Most Important Factors for Success. Ina dairy region the most important factors have been shown to be the size of the business, the returns per cow, the crop yields, and the diversity of the business.1. Many other factors have to do with financial success, but on careful examination it will be found that most of them are covered by the above. For instance, nothing is said about the effective use of labor, but the most important single factor controlling such use is the size of the business. The following are some of the many other factors that cause minor variations in profit on many farms and that sometimes become the most important factors. Too much or too little capital may be invested in buildings or stock. Too many or too few men or horses may be kept. The region or farm may not be adapted to dairying. The wrong kind of product for the region may be sold. ‘The barns and fields may be so arranged as to aid in the work, or they may cause a loss of time. Other things being equal, large cows pay better than small ones. | 222. Ways of Measuring Profit. Two things are at work on a farm — money and men. To be called a financial suc- 1 Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 349. 258 FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 259 cess any business should pay a reasonable rate of interest on the capital invested and, in addition, pay fair wages for the labor used. The best way to measure profits on a farm is first to find the difference between the receipts and the business expenses for a year, including in expenses all labor except the owner’s. This difference represents the pay for the use of the capital and for the owner’s time. The interest on the money invested in the business calculated at 5 per cent, or at the current rate of interest, should be subtracted from the income from capital and owner’s labor to get the amount left to pay for histime. This is called hislabor income. The following averages from 73 farms in Illinois show the method of figuring :! MVELAPO PADIbAL s~ oot ee oe. etn. OL 091 VREARE TeCceIpts Fs oe ee es 5,042 Average farm expenses ; j 1,866 Income from capital and owner’s etbor a 100 Interest on capital at 5 per cent mee ADO Owner’s labor income .0 6.0... 621 S1zE oF BUSINESS 223. Size of Business. In order to be most economically maneged, a dairy farm should be large enough to provide full use for a reasonable equipment of modern machinery. This does not mean that it should be one of the great costly and money-losing establishments that are often maintained by wealthy men. But it does mean that a farm is working at a disadvantage if it is not large enough to provide work for two or three persons. Just how many acres this will require depends on the richness of the land and on what is done with the milk. A small area of land that will naturally grow two tons of hay and fifty bushels of corn per acre will represent 1U.S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin 41, p. 9. 260 DAIRY FARMING as large a business as many more acres of poor soil. If milk is sold at retail, a smaller area and smaller number of cows may represent an equally large business. But even when milk is sold at retail, it is very desirable to have 15 to 30 cows. How important a reasonable area of land is to a dairy farmer is shown by the results from 1988 farms in New York as given in Table 30. TABLE 33. — RELATION OF SIZE OF FarM TO LABOR INCOME. 1988 Farms, TOMPKINS, LIVINGSTON, AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES, New YorEK AVERAGE AVERAGE AVERAGE oan "fans | Aenes roe | ACRES ov | LasoR 30 Gr teas. a 74 22 14 $121 ie ate 7s Maen dae Sue tues 141 44 yas 252 5410 eS ie ee 616 79 40 402 = 8 ee ce 572 126 66 568 8 6 oe eS 304 177 89 776 Over 200 AEM +E 281 281 134 995 These farms are fairly typical of many of the dairy farms from Dakota to New England. About half the farm is devoted to hay, corn, small grain, and other farm crops. The other half is pasture, or woods and waste land. The farms of less than 100 acres are on the average not paying the owner more than interest and hired man’s wages. There are of course some small farms that pay well, but, as a rule, the larger farms pay better. Similar results have been ob- tained in many other states. | | 224. Relation of Size of Farm to Efficiency in the Use of Labor. In every region where such studies have been made the small farms accomplish much less per man than do the FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 261 fair-sized farms. Table 34 gives results for one county. The average number of men per farm as given in the table includes all human labor. Work of women and children is expressed in terms of the number of men that would have been required to do the same work. On the smallest farms, very little work was done by any one except the operator. On the farms of over 200 acres, the hired labor and labor by members of the family amounted to the time of one and one- third men, or, counting the time of the farmer, these farms had the equivalent of 2.35 men. The farms of less than 30 acres had an average of 3.5 animal units per farm besides work horses. Those of over 200 acres had an average of 34.2 animal units besides work: horses. The producing enterprises on most farms are the acres of crops grown and the animals other than horses. TABLE 34. — RELATION OF S1zE OF Farm To EFFICIENCY IN THE UsrE or Lasor. 670 Farms, JEFFERSON County, NEw YORK een is ae AVERAGE | OF A eM, ACRES OF Ue. AcRES Eourva- | Acres or | Units CROPS EXCEPT pati Crops EXCEPT | PER MAN HorskEs WorxK PER Man HORSES oOor less ).)¢°.*.. 1.04 14 3.0 13 3 31-50 Gis 1.18 25 7.9 21 7 51-100 Le ete Ye 1.34 40 LSeZ, 30 10 web i eT GD 66 19.4 41 12 151-200 mR a 1.98 89 Zouk 45 13 Over 200... ..°. | 2.35 *},°. 194 34.2 57 15 The acres of crops grown, the yields of these crops, the number of producing animals, and the production of these animals are a measure of the amount that is being accom- ~ plished on a farm. The crop yields and the production of 262 DAIRY FARMING animals are no better on the small farms than on the large farms, hence the acres of crops and the animals kept are a fairly accurate measure of the amount accomplished. The acres of crops raised per man varied from 13 on the small farms to 57 on the largest farms. The number of animal units per man varied from 3 on the small farms to 15 on the largest farms (Table 34). 225. Relation of Size of Farm to Work Done. From cost accounts and other records, we know approximately how much time it takes to do each kind of farm work under normal conditions. The raising of a wheat crop ordinarily takes 15 to 25 hours of man labor and 20 to 40 hours of horse labor per acre. With anything like efficient methods of work, 20 hours of man labor and 30 hours of horse labor per acre is: sufficient. Many farmers do better than this. We may therefore say that a wheat crop represents two days of man work and three days of horse work. If much more time than this is spent, the work is not efficiently done. This may be because the fields are too small, because of poor machinery, because the land is unusually hard to work, or for other reasons. It matters not why time is lost. If it is lost, the farm is not efficient. Similarly the average farmer spends about 150 hours of work per year on a cow. If the barn or pasture is unhandy, or if he has only a half-dozen cows, more time may be re- quired. Some farmers who get good returns spend less time. To care for a cow for a year may be counted as about 15 days’ work (see Table 35). In order to compare farms, all the productive enterprises are similarly expressed in work units. The income of the farm is dependent on the crops raised, the cows and other productive animals kept, the outside work done for pay. SAAS FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 263 TasBLE 35. — Units or PropuctiveE Work Man HoRsE Work Work UNITs Units Timothy, alfalfa, clover, per acre per cutting 1 1 Oats, wheat, barley, rye, buckwheat, per acre . 2 3 Corn husked from standing stalks, per acre . 3 5 Corn husked from shock, per acre . 6 6 Corn for silo, per acre . 5 6 Field beans, per acre 4. 5 Cotton, per acre . 12 6 Tobacco, per acre : 20 vs Potatoes, cabbage, beets, per acre . 10 10 Peas for canning factory, per acre . 3 5 Hops, per acre : ee: 20 8 Apples, peaches, pears, bearing per AGIO eco 8 15 5 Dairy cow . . sie Shy BEAT an! ays 15 2 10 cattle or colts running loose ; ‘ ; 20 1 10 brood sows, and raising pigs to weaning ; 30 5 50 hogs, not brood sows 25 5) 100 ewes : 50 3 OOhens ~ . 15 2 Raising 200 phicksns 15 2 TaBLE 36. — RELATION OF S1zE OF Farm TO EFFICIENCY IN THE User or MEN anv Horses. 670 Farms, JEFFERSON COUNTY, New YorxK Units oF PRo- Units oF PrRo- ACRES DUCTIVE WORK DUCTIVE WORK PER Man PER HORSE Beirartieas) sc let fe a 102 35 OE ra Magan Beh Fe Noe igen SNES % 154 Al et IR ns oie LR TL e 205 57 REALM uid een eeNeTe age! es 245 62, OO AS ASS ae ne ae a aa 253 65 Dias ogi Bea ha ss 294 76 264 DAIRY FARMING Much other work may be done, such as repairing machinery and buildings, taking care of work horses, mowing the lawn, and the like, but it is the productive work that limits the income. se On farms in Jefferson County, New York, the average amount of productive work per man varied from 102 work units on the small farms to 294 on the largest farms. Each man on the largest farms is accomplishing nearly three times as much work as a man on the small farms. It must be remembered also that the crop yields and the returns per cow are as good on the larger farms. Each horse on the large farms is accomplishing twice as much as each horse on the small farms. The farms of less than 100 acres are very waste- ’ ful of both man and horse labor. TaBLEeE 37. — RELATION OF Si1zE oF Farm To EFFICIENCY IN THE Use or Horses. 1248 Farms, JEFFERSON AND LIVINGSTON ‘CCounTIES, NEw YORK NuMBER | ACRES OF NuMBER | ACRES OF ae (Sache ACRES or FARMS Crops HorsEs_ | PER HORSE oe OF Tess) Oo nS eas 42 14.2 1.5 9.5 OA DBS bean Te Aas Pee tis ae oN 64 28.4 2.3 12:3 Ns ee 68 Diy tea PD NR air a 315 46.8 3.1 15 TOTS 8 ate ee ae 364 S2ASLS 4.2 17.5 0G ie BOS 8 a ee Se 226. 98.7 5.0 19.7 GV GF 200 fei Sel Peak: 207 152.8 72 21.2 226. Relation of Size of Farm to Efficiency in the Use of Horses. The discussion given above is the best way of com- paring horse labor. Another comparison is shown in Table 37. On the large farms, twice as many acres of crops are raised per horse as on the small farms. The average cost of — keeping a horse, as shown by cost accounts, is about $100 to FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 265 $175 a year in different parts of the United States. This includes feed, labor, depreciation, and all other costs. From this the importance of the efficient use of horses is apparent. 227. Relation of Size of Farm to Efficiency in the Use of Machinery. ‘Thesmall farms are very inadequately equipped with machinery, as is shown in Table 38. Even the TaBLE 38. — RELATION oF SizE oF Farm TO EFFICIENCY IN THE UsrE or MAcHINERY. 1248 Farms, LIVINGSTON AND JEFFER- son CountTiESs, NEw YorK rm - ee OF Acres emer) (ay sane Oe eer or CROPS BOR TORS ook 8 Sige po He 14.2 $141 $9.93 eM Ge cates ee eR Se 28.4 207 7.29 Us ae i ee Gale ae 46.8 426 9.10 BOPP SR he Gee says ohne (320 497 6.76 eee ae Pa at ea ee 98.7 613 6.21 TE as 0 A IRR NR A A a 152.8 833 5.45 farms of over 200 acres have an investment in machinery of only $833. This represents machinery of all ages. Prob- ably the cost when new would be over twice as much, but even this sum will not provide all the well-established ma- chines, such as a grain-binder and manure-spreader for each farm. But, while the small farms are not well equipped, their machinery cost per acre of crops is almost double that on the larger farms. ) . 228. Relation of Size of Farm to Efficiency in the Use of Capital. The small farm has relatively much more of its capital invested in unproductive ways than does the large farm. No matter how small the farm may be, the owner desires a respectable house. Table 39 shows that the small- 266 DAIRY FARMING est farms have 43 per cent of their capital in houses; the largest farms have somewhat better houses, but have only 9 per cent of their capital thus invested. TABLE 39. — AREA RELATED TO INVESTMENT IN BurILpINGs. 578 Farms, Livincston County, NEw YorK PER CENT| VALUE Per CENT Vv T O ACRES Bite es re oe ae ia ‘Caprran, Buupinas ev Houens | Smee |e One | ee 30 orless . . .| $1494 43 $ 655 19 $164 3l1— 50 Eee ted 1000 ae 681 15 95 51-100 2 SEES ee 1236 18 1091 16 87 101—150 eae 1477 14 1408 13 74 151-200 Jee ee 1810 13 1900 3 73 Over 200-5. tee: 2113 9 2352 11 50 The barns on the small farms also take a much larger proportion of the capital. The smallest farms have 19 per cent of their capital thus invested, the largest farms have only 11 per cent thus tied up. A barn for ten head of stock costs much more than half as much as an equally good barn for twenty head of stock. The smallest farms have an investment in barns of $164 per animal unit. The largest farms have only $50 per animal unit. Yet observations lead to the conclusion that the stock on the larger places is better housed. If interest, repairs, depreciation, and insurance on a building amount ‘to 8 per cent of the value, then the housing cost per animal unit will vary from $13 per year on the small- est farms to $4 per year on the largest. Similar results for the United States are shown in Table 40. These indicate, as for other points in this work, that the results are of general rather than local application. The o FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 267 farms of less than 20 acres have 36 per cent of their capital invested in buildings and machinery. Those of 100 to 174 acres have only 17 per cent of the money thus invested, yet they have much better buildings and more machinery. Money thus employed not only is unproductive, but it is a source of constant cost for repairs. If a farmer had all his money invested in buildings and machinery, his income would, of course, be zero. In fact, he would not be a farmer at all. TasBLeE 40. — AREA RELATED TO INVESTMENT IN BUILDINGS AND MAcHINERY, FOR UNITED States, 1909, rRomM THE CENSUS REPORT PER CEN ie Wane oF | om Gane | WauuE or | oF Capi PER FARM gS ERY MAcuin- BUILDINGS ERY Under 20 LP ie Rae Pek parere Siew. ya 6.855 34 $ 656 Die Oe tone Otek 474 21 76 2.8 SEP RN atone Oe c5it a We, Pe 848 19 156 ook 0) Be i: SC ee Soe hen 1182 14 241 2.7 eer REP foe 1734 10 390 2.4 SIS ma eR. a ice 2174 8 639 2.4 BO OP OVER. eo e 3330 5 1196 1.0 229. Size of the Herd. In regions where very little ex- cept dairy products is sold, the number of cows kept is the best measure of the size of the business. Table 41 gives results from such a region in Jefferson County, New York, and shows that farmers who have herds of 20 or more cows ‘are doing very much better than those who have smaller herds. In fact, the size of the herd is as important as the quality of the cows. The usual advice to sell the poorest cows and keep only the best ones should be changed to the more practical advice to replace the poorest cows by good 268 DAIRY FARMING ones, rather than leave half of the barn empty. A cow that is much too poor to keep may yet pay as well as an empty stanchion. Of course, if the farm has too many cows for its area, it will pay to sell the poorest ones and decrease the number. In regions like Jefferson County that are well adapted to dairying and not adapted to many other things, herds of 20 to 30 cows when kept on farms that are large enough for the herd, are usually more profitable than small herds. Of course the number of cows should not be increased out of proportion to the farm. On the other hand extremely large herds are a disadvantage because the farm family is ordinarily not able to do the work and too much labor must be hired. TaBLE 41. — RELATION oF NUMBER OF Cows AND MILK SoLpD ~ PER Cow To Lasor Income. 585 Farms, JEFFERSON County, New Yor«k NUMBER OF Cows Mink Soup PER Cow ; 6-10 11-20 Over 20 © Labor Income | Labor Income | Labor Income Less than: $500.2 @.. 5 2b: $632 $ 481 $1046 TEE ESE Babee ae, ee iii aa 447 | 704 1093 PE esti mat tice ee dn 599 836 1249 Copan BOG Mie an te eee Se es 760 1054 | 1959 230. Summary of Size of Dairy Farms. Unless a dairy farm keeps four or five horses, it cannot take advantage of the great economy in human labor that comes from the use of four-horse machinery. But each horse ought to raise 20 to 30 acres of crops so that this calls for 80 or more acres of crops. If 25 cows’ and young stock are kept, there will usually need to be 60 to 100 acres of pasture. This calls for 140 to 200 acres of land, a very common size ee Ye eee FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 269 in most of the dairy regions of the United States. Theaver- age size of farms among subscribers to Hoard’s Dairyman was reported to be 167 acres. In some of the rich irrigated valleys the pastures and alfalfa are so productive that a considerably smaller area provides an equally large business. In some very fertile regions like Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania, where very intensive crops are combined with dairying, a farm of 60 to 80 acres represents as large a business as two or three times this area in some regions. Not every dairyman has money enough to buy a farm of the best size, but there are other ways of obtaining land. The usual steps in becoming a farm owner are: first, to work as a hired man; then to become a tenant; then own a mort- gaged farm; and finally pay off the mortgage. Only 36 per cent of the farmers in the United States own free from mort- gage all the land that they operate. If one who has too small a farm knows how to farm and how to live economically, he will often find it profitable to go in debt to buy more land. A mortgage is not necessarily a bad thing. The im- portant point to consider is the use to which the borrowed money is put. It may not be wise to mortgage a farm for the purpose of buying an automobile, but it may be good business to mortgage it to buy additional cows or land that is needed. Another way of enlarging the farm is to rent additional land. There are half a million farmers in the United States who own part of the land that they operate, and who rent additional land. RETURNS PER Cow 231. Reasons for Poor Returns. No single factor is more important than the returns per cow (see Table 41). Low returns may be due to not having a good market for 270 DAIRY FARMING dairy products, or may be due to selling the wrong kind of product ; for instance, making butter in a region where there is a good demand for market milk at much better prices. Low returns may be due to keeping the wrong kind of cattle for the region or for the kind of product sold, or to poor production because of poor care or feed, or to having cows that are naturally not good ones. Before one can intelligently change his practice, he must find out to which of these causes his poor returns are due. The ~ preceding chapters have given attention to feeding and to determining which are the cows that are naturally poor, so that nothing more need be said on these most vital points. Even in regions unfavorable for dairying there are usually some persons who make more money by combining dairying with their other farm work than they would make if they did not keep cows. Everywhere there must be cows enough to supply the fresh milk even if butter is shipped in. But in some regions the prices of products are low com- pared with feed prices and other costs. In such regions, a farmer who is only a fair dairyman may find that it pays best to keep only a few cows or possibly to keep only enough to supply products for home use. | In some regions milk is sold by the quart at the same price regardless of the percentage of butter-fat. In such a region, herds that give a high test are at so great a disad- vantage that they cannot often be made to pay. Those who keep pure-bred cattle sometimes fail to make a profit because they select a breed that is not desired in the region. The best market for the surplus stock of the small breeder is nearly always in his neighborhood. He should raise the kind that is wanted. FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 21a 232. Costs and Returns must Both be Considered. No set standard can be given for the receipts that are necessary in order to make a profit, because the costs of feed and labor are so variable in different regions and on different farms in the same region. But many studies of this question have indicated that it is a fairly easy matter to obtain receipts per cow of a half more than the average for the region. Usually the most profitable farms in a region are doing as well as this. But increased costs must also be considered. It is not the return per cow, nor the cost, that is of most impor- tance, but the relation between the two. Sometimes the better returns are obtained at too great cost. On the other hand, a dairy herd that produces less than the average some- times pays, because the farmer has reduced the cost of feed and labor to a still lower point. | 233. For Good Returns the Poor Producers should be Promptly Sold. In one county in New York the farmers who obtained the best production per cow were doing the most buying and selling of cows. Those who obtained poor to fair returns were on the average replacing 1 cow in 23 by 5 purchase, but those who obtained the best returns replaced one-seventh of the herd each year by purchase. Those who got the lowest production per cow replaced one- seventh of the herd each year by cows purchased or raised. Those who obtained good production replaced one-fifth, and those who got the best production replaced. one-fourth each year. They disposed of poor cows and milked good cows whether they were home-raised or purchased. The essential point is not who raised the cow, but how much her milk is worth. 234. Size of Cows. As machines for changing feed into milk, large cows and small cows seem to be about equally 272 DAIRY FARMING effective. But the milk produced for a given amount of barn room and labor is also important. Of two animals that are equally efficient users of food, the larger animal is — usually much more profitable. Table 42 gives the value of the milk and value of the feed for 355 cows in Wisconsin. TABLE 42.— RELATION OF S1zE OF Cows TO VALUE OF PRODUCT ABOVE Foop Cost! Vv ALUE VALUE 7 Newnes PouNpDsS OF EIGHT OF |AVERAGE on OF VALUE OF | VALUE OF Piso Propucr Cows WEIGHT Burrer- | Propuct FEED ABOVE Cows San FOR $1 Iida IN FEED Cost ee eS ee under |. 847 | 87 | 366.2 |$114.52 | $60.32 | $1.90 | $54.20 901-1000 | 952 | 82 | 417.8 | 131.22] 69.86| 1.88 | 61.36 1001-1100 | 1071 53 | 447.8 | 142.56| 76.28} 1.87 | 66.28 1101-1200 | 1175 | 60 | 477.7 | 155.02} 82.81| 1.87 | 72.21 1201-1300 | 1276 | 31 | 506.2 | 163.52] 91.51] 1.79 | 72.01 1301-1400 | 1379 | 26 | 525.8 | 171.79| 92.15) 1.86 | 79.64 Over 1400 | 1556 16 | 566.6 | 184.61; 96.60} 1.91.| 88.01 It takes very little more barn room and very little more — labor to care for large cows than it does for small ones. Medicine, veterinary fees, and many other expenses cost about the same for large as for small cows. These costs were found to be $25 per year in Minnesota, and $29 in New York (page 247). 2 According to the figures in Table 42 a herd of 15 cows av- | eraging 1276 pounds in weight would make more butter than 20 cows averaging 847 pounds. The saving on labor, barn room, and other fixed costs, would be about $125 per year 1 Data furnished by F. W. Woll, for cows whose records are reported in Wisconsin, Bulletin 226. FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 273 by keeping the smaller number of large cows. Where the land is level, and particularly if hay or other roughage is abundant, large cows are usually more profitable. Even if small ones are introduced the farmers usually change to large ones in time. Where the pastures are on steep, rocky hillsides small cows are better able to hold ther place. If pastures are very poor, the large cow is at a disadvantage. She needs more feed, but she is not able to walk’ so far as the small one. In the South where heat and insects are both serious enemies of the dairy business, nearly all of the cows kept are of the small active breeds. / Records of 110 cows kept by the University of Nebraska showed that cows averaging 801 pounds in weight gave an _ average of 263 pounds of butter-fat, those weighing 1002 pounds gave 278 pounds of fat, and those averaging 1211 pounds produced 346 pounds of butter-fat. The production was in proportion to the size.! Of course the vital point is production per cow. If one is buying a cow with a known record, it is the record that should be considered. A large cow that is a failure is a bigger failure than a small one that is a failure. The best success comes from keeping large cows that are also good for their size. When large numbers are considered, the production and feed consumption seem to be about in proportion to the size. . The advantage of having large animals is in the saving of barn room and labor, just as there is an advantage in using a six-foot mower rather than a four-foot one. 1 Records of cows reported in Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 139. Cows sorted by average weights for the years reported, into three groups, 900 pounds or less, 901-1100 pounds, and over 1100 pounds. Ak 274 DAIRY FARMING Crop YIELDS The returns from crops and costs of these crops have as much to do with the success of the farm as a whole as do the returns from the cows. It is not enough that the farmer be a good dairyman, he should be a good dairy farmer. Sometimes the farmer raises crops that are good for feed but cost too much to raise. More frequently the yields are not good enough to be profitable. _ 235. Soils for the Dairy Farm. Only under exceptional conditions does it pay to choose land that is not naturally productive. The farmer ordinarily raises all the hay and part of the grain for the cows. If he buys grain, he ought _ to have for sale some product other than milk that will more than pay the feed bill. It is usually difficult for a farmer who has poor land to succeed in competition with those who have _ good land. Occasionally, but not usually, the poor land is enough cheaper to make up for the difference in quality. The best dairy soils are loams and clay loams that grow grass well. The great dairy sections of the North are on soils that grow Kentucky blue-grass and white clover for pasture, clover or alfalfa hay, and corn. Dairy farms do not as a rule buy much chemical fertilizer. The farmers who get better crops than their neighbors are as a rule receiving greater profits than the average, but as in the case of good returns per cow, the returns are sometimes — obtained by methods that are too costly. Sometimes poor crops are grown by such economical methods that they pay well. Many successful farmers have crops a fifth better than their neighbors grow. 236. The Well-balanced Farm. If a good-sized business, good cows, and good crops are three of the most important le ll i Si i sl tiie lal ete Pa ee FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 275 factors for success, then a farmer who excels in all three ought to do very well indeed. With rare exceptions this is the case. Table 43 gives the labor incomes on 585 farms. TasBLe 43. — RELATION oF S1zE or Farm, RECEIPTS PER Cow, AND Crop YIELDS, TO LAaBor INCOME ON 585 FARMS WITH Srx or More Cows, JEFFERSON County, New York | ACRES 100 or less 101-150 Over 150 Labor Income|Labor Income|Labor Income Receipts per cow $50 or less Crop index 85 per cent or less $308 $ 273 $ 331 Crop index 86-115 per cent 381 482 424 Crop index over 115 per cent 158 415 413° Receipts per cow $51-$75 Crop index 85 per cent or less 304 - §90 669 Crop index 86-115 per cent 437 653 1017 _ Crop index over 115 per cent 537 636 1161 Receipts per cow over $75 Crop index 85 per cent or less 594 935 1233 Crop index 86-115 per cent 641 1038 1148 Crop index over 115 per cent 659 1124 1291 They are grouped as small, medium, and good-sized farms ; small, medium, and good returns per cow ; and small, medium, and good crop yields; so that there are 27 different com- binations (crop index compares the crops with average crops as 100 per cent). A study of this table indicates that if the crops are wasted by being fed to cows that give very poor returns, the final result is poor, even with a good-sized farm and good crops. Medium cows and medium crops with a good-sized farm pay very much better than the best cows and crops on a small farm. Improvement in any one of the three points helps, but well-balanced improvement in all is best. A fourth important factor for success in dairy 276 DAIRY FARMING farming is the diversity of the business. It usually pays better to have cash crops or other products combined with the dairy. DIVERSIFIED AND SPECIALIZED DatrRy FARMS 237. Relation of Cash Crops to Profits. As has previously been mentioned (page 229), farmers who combine cash crops or some other product with dairying, usually make more than do those who sell nothing but dairy products. The poorer the cows, or the lower the price of dairy products, the more important it is that crops be sold. But even with extra good returns-per cow, those who sell some crops are usually doing better than those who sell no crops, as is shown in Table 44. The results here given are for a typical region in New York. In the corn-belt the most generally profitable type of dairy farming is to raise corn for sale-or for hog feed in addition to raising feed for the cows. TABLE 44. — RELATION OF RECEIPTS PER Cow AND CasH Crops — To Prorits oN 585 FARMS wITH Six oR More Cows. JEF- FERSON County, NEw YorK RECEIPTS PER Cow FROM MILK AND : Irs Propucts Per CEentT oF RECEIPTS FROM CROPS $50 or less $51-$75 Over $75 Labor Income|Labor Income| Labor Income Noerops ‘sold, “4 is eee $ 56 $ 571 $ 926 ~ 1-20 per cent::.2to ee eee ee 311 589 962 ESA ee es etre te ee 426 947 1183 AAO eo Sa ed 554 1366 . CISELOW oo eee Re eae ee ene 599 I 2 1 Only two farms in this group. 2 No farms in this group. a ee a ee ee aa ee - ? ne" ed Sed, ns ey Pere -y Poy 2 FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 277 238. Relation of Capital to Amount of Stock Kept. The amount of capital must also be considered in determining how many cows to keep. Farmers who are short of capital usually keep less stock than do those who have more capital. TABLE 45. — RELATION OF CAPITAL AND CAsH Crops To PROFITS. 578 Farms, Livincston County, NEw Yor«K CAPITAL Per CENT OF RECEIPTS FROM CROPS $5000 or less nae Over $15,000 = a Labor Income|Labor Income|Labor Income 20 or less . Pe An oes ee po Pe | 181 411 1399 Est WAZA ESS CANES Saar ee a a 256 624 1038 OT EOE SEG pees 7 tater es ata eae 424 623 1194 0 TEE pa i reine a ras a 231 _ 497 473 Table 45 shows that with small capital those who depend largely on cash crops make the most, while with larger capital those who derive more of their money from live- stock are doing best. The exact capital groups will vary with different land values, but the principle is universal, that one who is short of capital should keep less stock than one who has more money. This is as one would expect. Live- stock represents added capital after one has bought and - equipped his farm. If one is short of money, the absolutely essential things are land, machinery, and horses. One may get along without live-stock, but one cannot farm without land and equipment. The majority of farmers understand this principle. When they get more money, they increase the amount and improve the quality of their live-stock. For the young man with small capital it often pays to gradually work into pure-bred cattle. One can begin with 278 DAIRY FARMING a few moderate-priced pure-breds and, with a good bull, can gradually develop a good herd. Ordinary pure-breds can be improved just as grade cows can be improved. The advantage of the pure-breds is that after one has them im- proved, they are in greater demand for breeding purposes because they are recorded. 239. Acres per Animal Unit. Another way of comparing farms is on the basis of the number of acres of crops grown per animal unit kept. Results for one dairy region in New York are given in Table 46. The amount of stock that it pays to keep, of course, depends on the returns that one gets from it. With very poor returns, very little stock should be kept. The better the returns, the more heavily the place should be stocked. With good stock in the region. here mentioned, it pays best to have an animal unit other than horses for each 3 to 4 acres of crops. The exact amount that it pays to keep will of course vary with different regions and on different farms, but nearly always it is best to have the place moderately well stocked rather than go to either extreme. TasBLe 46. — RELATION oF ACRES OF CROPS PER ANIMAL AND RECEIPTS PER ANIMAL UNIT To Lasor INcomME. 670° Farms, JEFFERSON County, NEw YORK ; RECEIPTS FOR EACH ANIMAL UNIT EX- CEPT HORSES ACRES OF Crops PER ANIMAL UNIT $50 or less $51-$75 Over $75 Labor Income|Labor Income|Labor Income Ye a | RN cA 9 oe at a 8 $210 $649 $ 895 BO seta os Sep iat tote eae 264 680 971 EO) gi oes en hae et eet epee 314 763 1053 Over AO nian 3, ote tec ee 378 824 914 —— FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 279 240. Reasons for Larger Profits on Diversified Farms. There are many reasons why it does not pay to go to the extreme either way. Ordinarily a man can raise feed for more cows than he can milk. If each man milks 10 to 15 Hours 1200 800 = emits All FW (SS — 0) “Alfalfa, 1914 I Cabbage i I }' Poultry oo Farm KAN Cattle Horses WG Manure VIM, Fic. 78. — Distribution of man labor on a highly successful diversified dairy farm, that kept 42 cows, 1 bull, 10 heifers, and 9 horses. The crops raised were potatoes 11 acres, corn for silo 19 acres, oats 44 acres, hay 102 acres, and cabbage 7 acres, besides starting crops for the next year. The cabbages, potatoes, and some of the hay were sold for more than enough to pay the entire feed and labor bills. cows, he can raise the hay and silage for these cows and part of the grain, and in addition will have time to raise hay, grain, potatoes, cabbage, or other crops for sale. If the cows are so poor, or prices of the product so low, that the cows do not pay a good price for their feed, it is of vital importance that 280 DAIRY FARMING cash crops be raised. Even if the cows are highly profitable, it may still pay to raise crops for sale, because these crops can be raised at very little additional cost. It might be suggested that more cows be kept to eat the additional crops, but this calls for more men, who in turn can raise additional crops. In regions where cash crops are not raised, the women usually help with the milking because the farmer can raise feed for more cows than he can milk, and it does not pay to keep a hired man unless there is full work for him. Women can milk and do housework between milkings. If the region is well adapted to crops, it pays better to employ men and have them do farm work between milkings. Figure 78, page 279, shows the distribution of labor on a very success- ful diversified dairy farm. The owners of this farm have_ followed the same system for three generations and have always been successful. If a farm is too heavily stocked, much feed will have to be purchased in a poor year or some of the stock must be sold. In such years feed is likely to be very high and stock cheap, so that whatever one does he is likely to lose. If a farm is too heavily stocked, the returns per ton of manure used will be low. The value of manure depends on how heavily it is applied. A light application usually gives better returns per ton of manure than does a heavy applica- tion, as shown on page 235. If one goes to the other extreme and keeps no animals or too few animals, he will not have a full year’s work. Animals help to provide winter work, they provide work night and morning when the days are too short to allow a full day of field. work. Notice how little winter work there would be for the farm shown in figure 78 if there were no cows and no manure hauling. : / FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 281 Most farms have a considerable amount of low-grade . — hay, mixed hay, and other products that do not have much market value or that are too bulky to pay to sell. At least enough stock should be kept to make use of these low-grade products. On many farms there is some land that will not pay for farming, but that will bring some income as pasture. Farmers who find cash: crops very profitable often tend to keep too little live-stock. The more money one has and the more profitable his animals are, the nearer he should come to exclusive stock - farming, but it usually pays to sell at least one cash crop. In the corn-belt, corn marketed through the hog takes the place of a cash crop. When little money is available and when stock pays poorly, one should keep fewer animals, but it usually pays to produce at least one kind of animal or animal product. It is desirable that a farm have two to four important products for sale, and usually at least one should be an animal product, and at least one a cash crop. SoME SuccEssFUL Datry FarMs 241. A Successful Dairy and Hog Farm in Iowa. One can learn much by a study of successful farms, provided he is sure that the farm he is studying is really successful. A farm is a financial success when it pays interest on the capital invested and pays good wages to the operator. Some- times unimportant peculiarities of the farm are erroneously considered the cause of success. A systematic study of a number of farms will help to avoid this error. The record here given for an Iowa farm shows one of the best types of dairy farming for the corn-belt. (Data furnished by Professor H. B. Munger, Iowa State College.) 282 DAIRY FARMING CapiITtTaAL INVESTED IN THE FARM BUSINESS April 1, 1913 | April 1, 1914 160 acres land + 24 %=\ 22345225522 Ae eee $32,000 Machinery and tools --\.2 3.3 A ane t15 764 18 cows, 4 heifers, 2 calves . ... . 2000 bbls PME Re righ fis Sees. PKL! 175 178 17 cows, 2 ficifecs: 11 calves eee sere 2440 S horses; 2 COlts > iv, press Set he ee ae 1340 THGESES, Oo COMES: 8 es eee i ers oe 1360 5 GWOS) , 5.3 i 35 18 brood sows, 26 other hogs and pigs : 630 19 brood sows, 40 other ee and pigs . 715 100 chickens .. . : 50 50 Weed and supplies ©. Sec i eo eae 1079 1047 Cash-to- run tak. 2 Sore a 100 100 $38,124 $38,651 Crops Grown 1913 NT Crop ACRES Tota YIELD AMOUNT Amou Soup RECEIVED learn. She es oy gee. ee 44 1990 bu. 150 $95 Corn for silo’ 2 FF 11 128 tons Osis ern al oe eee 28 1540 bu. 600 198 ay ee yy anet 0 Foe ats 154 19 tons In addition, there were 45 acres of rotated pasture and 17 acres of farmstead roads and waste land. Corn is raised for two years, followed by oats in which grass isseeded. The hay is left down two years, part for hay and part for pasture. RECEIPTS 3939 lb. butter-fat @ 33¢, skim-milk returned . . . $1300 12 cattle sold and 6 increase of inventory ... . 7595 ES P27 ar ose SNe 30 85 hogs sold and 15 increase e of inventory tay bee 1645 Horses sold and increase of inventory . .... .- 138 150-bushels corn {ae 5, ee eS ae ee 95 - 600: bushels oats): 02 Sse se ee ee 198 Outside tabor. 300 iF Se ee ea ee ee 9 Machine work Te an a ge ee ie Re 30 $4200 FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING Farm EXPENSES 1 man 12 months . 1 man 1 month ages Machinery and repairs cost above i increase > value Grain feed Horseshoeing Breeding fees Veterinary Seeds Twine Threshing : Machine work hired . Fuel for farm use . Insurance Taxes ; Sheep sold for less ‘than inventory value Decrease in feed on hand SUMMARY Receipts . Expenses . Income from ace me" os S fehor Interest on average capital $38,388 at 5% Mean GCL ao To Pree eo ee EFFICIENCY Factors Size Acres 160 Acres crops 98 Number cows 1734 Number brood sows 18} Number men 25 Number work horses 7} Number of productive man work units 620 Number of productive horse work units 4385 Production Corn 45 bushels per acre Oats 55 bushels per acre Hay 11 tons per acre Receipts per cow from butter-fat $74 Receipts per cattle unit $88 Pigs raised per sow 5.4 Diversity Three main sources of income — milk, cattle, and hogs 283 284 DAIRY FARMING Efficiency in use of labor Crop acres per man 47 Crop acres per horse 13 Work units per man 298 Work units per horse 58 Fertility Acres of crops, including rotated pasture per animal unit 3.6 The farm represents a good-sized business. It provides full work for two men (one besides the owner) and has enough crops to justify the use of four-horse teams and good machinery. The crop yields are excellent. The returns per cow are very good for milk sold to a creamery. The $74 per cow represents a production of 225 pounds of butter-fat per cow in addition to new milk for home use and for calves. The number of pigs per sow is good. The farm has three important products, — milk, cattle, and hogs. The corn raised for hog feed takes the place of the cash crops that are raised by the farm described on page 285. The farmer has for five years used a pure-bred bull and now has ten pure-bred cows, so that cattle are a third im- portant source of income. | The acres of crops raised per man and work units per man — are very good. The efficiency in the use of horses is only fair. It is possible that the farm might pay a little better if fewer horses were kept. -In short, the farm is a good-sized business, has good crops, good cows, good diversity, and uses man labor efficiently, and the place is carrying enough stock so that there is a good supply of manure. The farmer had a common school education. He worked as a hired man five years, then as tenant five years, after which he bought this farm and has been operating it four years. The efficiency factors given above when compared FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 285 with the averages for farms given in preceding tables, show how well the farm is managed. 242. A Successful Diversified Dairy Farm in New York. This farm is typical of the best general type of dairy farming for those portions of the Eastern States where intensive cash crops combine well with dairying. CapiTaL INVESTED IN THE Farm BUSINESS 211 acres of land . Machinery and tools . 31 cows 2 calves 3 calves 1 bull 5 horses E 25 sheep, 38 lambs 28 sheep, 43 lambs 75 chickens . Feed and supplies . Cash to run farm . Crop Corn for silo . Wheat . Oats Timothy and ¢ clover hay Potatoes Apples Cabbage BEGINNING OF YEAR| END oF YEAR $14000 $14000 400 400 2480 2480 20 30 45 80 500 500 365° 411 50 50 350 350 200 | —_—200_ $184.10 $18501 Crops Grown Acres | Totan YIELD oe ey ale 10 120 tons a 330 bu. 310 bu. $264 26 1006 bu. Sar, 83 tons 2 tons k Giacce 12 2400 bu. 2025 bu. 1050 2 40000 Ib. | 36000 lb. 145 1 In addition to the above there were 85 acres of permanent pasture and 9 acres of woods, farmstead, waste land, ete. 286 DAIRY FARMING RECEIPTS : 264,837 Ib. milk: #2 Sotees Bey LS vine os ee Calves sold and increase inventory af an ea a ame 290 Sheep, lambs, and wool: So S452. oie eee 204 Nees os. at SAE ght teh ae Ae a LE ee ee 106 310 bu. wheat 6 a MERE ap See SA cnt ae ae Re 264 2 tons: hayt*:2. 3-2 Ser oe ee ee eee 25 2025. bu. potatoes #2) tee a ey oe ADDIES Eos a ae oe SO aN alg toy eee ee ee 145 : $5533 Farm EXPENSES Lahots <2 ne ee Be FAS a ee Weed toe a tre ee eee eer oa eae eae 511 Fartiliger: 202 Sh ee ne a er see re 100 Seen oe esd ec Se i ia eee Seg ee 53 Otlrer Gapenses «hrs ASS eA tee ose eee ie 260 $2024 SUMMARY Receipts: a.) SN RE a es Expenses. . Shy oS Income from capital and ‘operator’ s labor Sigs RC Interest on average er $18,455 @ de eae a 923 Labor income .. 0 tie Lae ee EFFICIENCY FaAcTORS Size Acres 211 Acres of crops 117 Number of cows 31 Number of men 33 Number of work horses 5 Number units productive man work 835 Number units productive horse work 431 Production Corn 12 tons Potatoes 200 bu. Oats 41 bu. Wheat 30 bu. Milk sold per cow 8543 lb. Receipt per cow from milk $111 Receipt per cattle unit $112 Lambs raised per ewe 1.5 Receipts per ewe $8.16 FACTORS FOR SUCCESS IN DAIRY FARMING 287 Diversity Two main sources of income — milk and potatoes — several other important things. Efficiency in use of labor Dmaerer Wer Mia oo ee ee BB eepaisercs per horse, 8 sc 8. 8B Work units per man Rep e WR rk areas 4! dre NomicmiMiceaper-NOrse: 2° pe ee a 86 Fertility Acres of crops per animalunit .... . 2.6 Fertilizers produced per acre of crops . . . $.85 Although this farm is a long distance from the preceding one, its success has been due to the same factors. The farm is a good-sized business, the cows and crops are good, the farm combines dairying with cash crops. The only differ- ence is that the Iowa farm marketed its corn crop through hogs, while the New York farm raised a human food crop for direct sale. Instead of keeping hogs to eat up extra grain, the New York farm depends to a large extent on purchased grain. Each farm followed the best type of farming for its conditions. Because of the size and diversity of the business each man is accomplishing a large amount. The production per cow on this farm is unusually good. The farmer has been in the dairy business for many years and now has a herd of high grade and pure-bred Holsteins. The farmer began as a tenant and worked this farm many years on shares. Be- cause of his good-sized diversified business, with good pro- duction, he was able to save money and buy the farm. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS 1. What is the labor income for a farm on which the expenses amounted to $1028, the receipts $2524, and on which the capital was $20,247 ? 2. For a dairy farm in your region find the total area, area in each crop, number of each kind of animals, and number of men em- 288 DAIRY FARMING ployed. Calculate the units of productive man and horse work.. Calculate the area of crops and units of productive work per man and per horse. Compare with farms of the. same area in Tables 33-40. If each student bases his report on a different farm, the results: may be compared. 3. To how many animal units is the stock on the above farm equal? (See p. 218.) How many acres of crops per animal unit?. About what proportion of the manure is produced in the barn. How many tons would this probably make per year if it is all saved ? If the manure is well cared for, and if eight tons are applied per acre, how many years would it take to cover the entire farm? 4. What is the value of the barns on the above farm? How much is this per animal unit? Compare with Table 39. 5. Are conditions in your region naturally favorable for large or for small breeds of dairy cattle? 6. What things aside from dairy products are conse sold from dairy farms in your region? 7. As an average for the beginning and end of the year, how many animal units are there on the farm described on page 281? How many on the farm on page 285? 8. Compare the farms on pages 242 and 244 as to size of business, erop yields, returns per cow, work units per man and horse, and in other ways. 9. Compare each of the above farms as to efficiency in the use of men and horses with farms of the same area in Table 36. LABORATORY EXERCISES 36. Record of a Year’s Business on a Farm. Arrange with some dairy farmer to allow the class to go to his farm and study his methods and obtain a record of his business for the past year, using Farmer’s Bulletin 661 for taking the record. Later calculate the labor income and work, the efficiency factors, and compare with the farms described on pages 281 and 285. What are the strong points and what are the weak points of the farm? Each student should make a similar record and study of the farm . on which he lives. COLLATERAL READING A Method of Analyzing the Farm Business, U.'S. Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 661. Farm Management, G. F. Warren, pp. 535-565. APPENDIX _ADDRESSES OF CATTLE BREEDERS’ ASSOCIATIONS American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders’ Association, Charles Gray, See., Chicago, Il. ' Ayrshire Breeders’ Association, C. M. Winslow, Sec., Brandon, Vt. Brown Swiss Cattle Breeders’ Association, Ira Inman, Sec., - Beloit, Wis. Dutch Belted Cattle Association of America, E. J. Kirby, See., Covert, Mich. American Galloway Breeders’ Association, R. W. Brown, Sec., Carrollton, Mo. The American Guernsey Cattle Club, William H. Caldwell, Sec., Peterboro, N.H. - American Hereford Cattle Breeders’ Association, R. J. Kinzer Sec., Kansas City, Mo. The Holstein-Friesian Association of America, F. L. Houghton, Sec., Brattleboro, Vt. The American Jersey Cattle Club, R. M. Gow, Sec., 324 West : 23d St., New York City. Red Polled Cattle Club of America, H. A. oe Sec., Gotham, Wis. American Shorthorn Breeders’ Association, F. W. Harding, Sec., Chicago, Ill. The Polled Durham Breeders’ Association, J. H. Martz, Sec., : _ Greenville, O. ERT IS U 289 290 APPENDIX SCALE OF POINTS FOR JERSEY COW Adopted by the American Jersey Cattle Club, 1913 Datry TEMPERAMENT AND CONSTITUTION Head, 7. A. Medium size, lean; face dished; broad between eyes; horns medium size, incurving B. Eyes full and placid; ears medium size, rae capeied alert; muzzle broad, with wide open nostrils and muscular lips, jaw strong . Neck, 4. Thin, rather long, with clean throat, neatly joined to head and shoulders Body, 37. A. Shoulders light, good distance through from point to point, but thin at withers; chest deep and full be- tween and just back of fore legs B. Ribs amply sprung and wide apart, giving Wwedae shape, with deep, large abdomen, firmly held up, with strong muscular development C. Backstraight and strong, with prominent spinal oe cesses; loins broad and strong D. Rump long to tail-setting, and level ina hive bones to rump bones : E. Hip-bones high and wide ee F. Thighs flat and wide apart, giving aaniles room fae udder G. Legs jeeeaneaenate te size aa ‘of fine anatiiee all apart, with good feet, ae not to weave or cross in walking . Lg ir OE H. Hide loose and pactiow Serr. e I. Tail thin, long, with good switch, rest coarse at sottiaee on Udder, 26. A. Large size, flexible, and not fleshy . ; B.° Broad, level or spherical, not peso eut iste teats .. C. Fore udder full anid “gall Suniel anne awa for- ward of front teats . err pet Carry forward APPENDIX 291 Brought forward 68 D. Rear udder well rounded, and well out and up be- [i LE EES a Ae i Ree eRe 6 Teats, 8. Of good and uniform length and size, regularly placed . 8 Milk-Veins, 4. Large, long, tortuous, and elastic, entering large and meritieemmr Oriiecr. cn ca 2 rn Ae 4 Size, 4. : Mature cows, S00 to 1000 pounds .. . 2 ew ee 4 General Appearance, 10. A symmetrical balancing of all the parts, and a propor- - tloning of parts to each other, depending on size of animal, with the general appearance of a high-class animal, with capacity for food and productiveness at pail RS Segre eet 100 SCALE OF POINTS FOR AYRSHIRE COW Adopted by Ayrshire Breeders’ Association, 1906 Head, 10. Forehead — Broad and clearly defined . .... . 1 Horns — Wide set on and inclining upward . . 1 Face — Of medium length, slightly dished, sloneat.. showing veins .. . 2 Muzzle — Broad and Mone Pihowt coarseness, eosirill large 1 Jaws — Wide ait the oon aul aie sone ies as 1 Eyes — Full and bright with placid expression ees t2 3 Ears — Of medium size and fine, carried alert . 1 Neck, 3. . Fine (eas throat clean, neatly joined to head and shoulders, of good length, moderately thin, nearly free from loose skin, elegant in bearing . .....- - 3 Fore Quarters, 10. Shoulders — Light, good distance through from point to point, but sharp at withers, smoothly blending into body -... 2 Chest — Low, deep, cad full pepwoen end baal a fom legs Beare, 3 Bes Te EOE i ts: 2G Carry forward . | 21 292 APPENDIX Brought forward Brisket — Light ; Legs and Feet — Legs piel aga ate gal ‘dpe shanks fine and smooth, joints firm; feet medium size, round, solid, and deep Body, 13. Back — Strong and straight, chine lean, sharp, and open . Jointed Loin — Broad, strong, itl ieoak Ribs — Long, broad, wide apart, and wall sprung Abdomen — Capacious, deep, cea held up with strong — muscular development Flank — Thin and arching. Hind Quarters, 11. Rump — Wide, level, and long from hooks to pin hase a reasonable pelvic arch allowed . ee Hooks — Wide apart and not projecting above nels nor unduly overlaid with fat ‘ Pin Bones — High and wide apart . Thighs — Thin, long, and wide apart . Tail — Long, fine, set on a level with the bath’ Legs and Feet — Legs strong, short, straight wie viewed from behind and set well apart; shanks fine: and smooth, joints firm; feet medium size, round, solid, and deep . Udder, 22. Long, wide, deep, but not pendulous, nor fleshy; firmly attached to the body, extending well up behind and far forward; quarters even; sole nearly level and not indented between teats, udder veins well developed and plainly visible . Teats, 8. Evenly placed, distance apart from sidé to side equal to half the breadth of udder, from back to front equal to one-third the length; length 23 to 33 inches, thickness in keeping with length, hanging perpendicular, and not tapering : Mammary Veins, 5. -Large, long, tortuous, branching, and entering large orifices Carry forward Wh > 28 APPENDIX 293 Brought forward 82 Escutcheon, 2. Distinetly defined, “paca es over poe and extending well upward... .. ; 5. a ec 2 eigen es 2 Color, 2 Red of any shade, brown, or these with white; mahog- - any and white, or white; each color distinctly defined. , (Brindle markings allowed, but not desirable). . . . 2 Covering, 6. Skin — Of medium thickness, mellow, and elastic 3 Hair — Soft and fine ; 2 Secretions — Oily, of rich ee or Calo alee 1 Style, 4 Alert, vigorous, showing strong character, temperament inclined to nervousness, but still docile . ... . 4 Weight, 4. Weight at maturity not less than one thousand pounds — 4 PRT a eR cee ee ET tr) Rg tape wae eae are ee OO SCALE OF POINTS FOR GUERNSEY COW Adopted by Guernsey Cattle Club Dairy Temperament Constitution, 38. Clean-cut, lean face; strong, sinewy jaw; wide muzzle with wide-open nostrils; full, bright eye with quiet and gentle expression; forehead long and broad. . . 5 Long, thin neck with strong juncture to head; clean throat. Backbone rising well between shoulder blades ; large rugged spinal processes, indicating good devel- opment.of the spinal cord . ... . ; 5 Pelvis arching and wide; rump long; wile stiduel ieee ture of spine at setting on of tail. Long, thin tail with good switch. Thin, incurving thighs . .. . Tend i Ribs amply and fully sprung and wide apart, Caaat an open, relaxed conformation; thin arching flanks . . 5 Abdomen large and deep, with strong muscular and navel development, indicative of capacity and vitality . . 15 Hide firm yet loose, with an oily feeling and texture, but (Pe OSES i an cs APR OREO Pp ihs Fey eR AS Carry forward 38 294 APPENDIX Brought forward 38 Milking Marks Denoting Quantity of Flow, 10. Escutcheon wide on thighs; high and broad, with thighs OV AN 12 Si rete oe 2 Milk veins long, seookod, ee re ce peominene wittl large ‘or deep wells c¢ .. eo Dee ie ee 8 Udder Formation, 26. Udder fullinfront .. Udder full and well up ebiaal Udder of large size and capacity . pr Teats well apart, cen placed, and of Lae ant even size. a ah eke il ee! te Pete Indicating Color of M ae, 15. Skin deep yellow in ear, on end of bone of tail, at base of horns, on udder, teats, and body ee Hoof, amber-colored . . . chide .. Sa Milking Marks Denoting Duality af Flow, 6. H» CO 00 Udder showing plenty of substance, but not too meaty 6 Symmetry and Size, 5. Color of hair, a shade of fawn, with white markings. Cream-colored nose. Horns amber-colored, small, curved, and not coarse . 3 Size for the breed: cide. cows, our cpard old or over about 1050 pounds ae 100 SCALE OF POINTS FOR HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN COW. Adopted by Holstein-Friesian Association Head — Decidedly feminine in appearance; fine in contour 2 Forehead — Broad between the eyes; dishing . . . ‘a Face — Of medium length; clean and trim especially mane the eyes, showing facial veins; the bridge of the nose straight 2 Muzzle — Broad with strong lips . . . 1 Ears — Of medium size ;- of fine texture ; die ae plentiful aia soft; the secretion oily and abundant . Eyes — Large; full; mild; bright ine Horns — Small; tapering finely towards the fips oe modera- ately narrow at base; oval; inclining forward; well bent inward; of fine texture; in appearance waxy Carry forward o >= - Ya ee a ee oe APPENDIX Brought forward Neck — Long; fine and clean at juncture with the head; free from dewlap; evenly and smoothly joined to shoulders Shoulders — Slightly lower than hips; fine and even over tops; moderately broad and full at sides : Chest — Of moderate depth and lowness; smooth and eres ately full in the brisket, full in the fore flanks es bate the heart) . emia mg tt gf Bad : Crops — Moderately full Chine — Straight; strong; broadly developed, with open - vertebre Barrel — Long; of eae ope : well Ponedene ens ey fine abdomen, trimly held up (in judging the last item age must be considered) 295 Loin and Hips — Broad; level or nearly level between the — hook bones; level and strong laterally; spreading from chine broadly and nearly level; hook bones any promi- nent... =. Rump — Long; hink: oe ae sony Beh are saab jest laterally; comparatively full above the thurl; carried out straight to dropping of tail Thurl — High, broad . Quarters — Deep; straight behind = fiat filled with qapelop- ment of udder; wide and moderately full at the sides Flanks — Deep; comparatively full Legs — Comparatively short ; clean and nearly sivdichte wide apart; firmly and squarely set under the body; feet of medium size, round, solid, and deep Tail — Large at base, the setting well back ; janetinn finely we switch; the end of the bone aie to hocks or below; the switch full : Hair and Handling — Hair healthful in Seti ai Soi and furry; the skin of medium thickness and loose; mellow under the hand; the secretions oily, abundant, and of a rich brown or yellow color _ Mammary Veins — Very large; very crooked ae Soe is taken into consideration in judging of size and crooked- ness); entering very large or numerous orifices; double extension; with special developments, such as branches, connections, ete. Carry forward OO 296 | APPENDIX Brought forward 84 Udder and Teats — Very capacious; very flexible; quarters even; nearly filling the space in the rear below the twist, extending well forward in front; broad and well held up 12 Teats — Well formed; wide apart, plump, and of convenient size ‘ weg BS Sh Sea nS De tee 2 Escutcheon — Earns ‘finest oi oe tat, vet ha SNe heeds oe ean 2 100 TasBLE 47.—Imports AND Exports oF Datry Propucts YEAR ENDING YEAR ENDING YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1912 - JUNE 30, 1913 JUNE 30, 1914 Amount Value Amount Value Amount Value Imports Butter, pounds .{ 1,025,668) $237,154! 1,162,253) $304,094) 7,842,022/$1,753,461 Cheese, pounds /46,542,007) 8,807,249 49,387,944) 9,185,184/63,784,313)| 11,010,693 Cream, gallons .| 1,120,427) 923,779] 1,247,083) 1,068,109) 1,773,152] 1,549,549 Mie By) = 2 Fe 61,671 ' 135,724 1,089,440 Ota. Fn a 10,029,853 10,693,107 15,403,143 Exports Butter, pounds ./ 6,092,235) 1,468,432) 3,585,600} 872,804] 3,693,597) 877,453 Cheese, pounds 6,337,560} 898,035) 2,599,058} 441,186] 2,427,577) 414,124 Condensed milk, pounds . ... |20,642,738) 1,651,879|16,525,918| 1,432,848|16,209,082| 1,341,140 Other milk and cream esi 5.5 244,913 LS 474,055 333,217 Sonal oo 48 4,263,259 3,220,893 2,965,934 Notes ror TABLE 48, on Pace 297 1U. 8. Dept. Agr., Yearbook, 1913, p. 487. 2 No state standards. 3 Federal rulings adopted. 4 Percentage of fat based on total solids. 5 Fat, 7.8 per cent; total solids plus fat, 34.3 per cent. 6 For butter making, 25 per cent fat. 7 This standard for sweetened condensed milk: ‘‘ Evaporated milk,” solids, 24 per cent; fat, 7.8 per cent. 8 No report; 1910 standard given. ° By weight. 10 Not more than 0.2 per cent “‘ filler.’’ 11 Must correspond to 11.5 per cent solids in crude milk. 2 Tf artifically colored. 18 Must correspond to 12 per cent solids in crude milk. 14 23-24 per cent solids, 7.9 per cent fat; 24-25 per cent solids, 7.8 per cent fat; 25-26 per cent solids, 7.7 per cent fat; 26 per cent solids, 7.6 per cent fat. 15 In May and June, solids 12 per cent. 16 Fat, 27.5 per cent of total solids. APPENDIX | 297 TABLE 48.— LeGcat STANDARDS FOR Datry Propvucts! STATE Alabama 2. Arizona 2 Arkansas 3 . California . Colorado Connecticut” Delaware 2 District of Columbia Florida 5 Georgia Hawaii § Idaho Illinois . Indiana . Iowa Kansas . Kentucky Louisiana . Maine .. Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi 2 Missouri Montana Nebraska : New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico 2 New York Nevada ; : North Carolina North Dakota Ohio “ie Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Porto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina 2. South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia 2 Wisconsin Wyoming MILE fc a = 2) ¢ % ; nm |o 3 Ss |oe a3 55 S53] 8 |S5| 8 Hm IRS) & |Hm| & Per |Per|Per|Per| Per Cent |Cent\Cent|Gent) Cent 11.5 {8.5 -|/3.0 |8.8 |18.0 : 3.0 16.0 & 11.75 |8.5 |3.25 16.0 12.5 {9.0 {3.5 |9.3 |20.0 11.75 |8.5 |3.25/9.25/;18.0 11.75 |8.5 |3.25/9.25)18.0 - 11.5 |8.5 |3.0 11.2 |8.0 |3.2 |9.3 |18.0 11.5 |8.5 |3.0 |9.25/18.0 8.5 |3.25|9.25)18.0 12.0 3.0 16.0 11.75 |8.5 |3.25/9.25/18.0 & 12.5 |8.5 |3.25)9.25/18.0 8.5 |3.5- 18.0 |18.0 11.75 |8.5 |3.25 18.0 12.5 3.5 |9.25}18.0 12.15 3.35/9.3 |15.0 12:5 3.0 13.0 |9.75)3.25 20.0 12.0. |8.75/3.25]9.25/18.C 11.75 18.5 |3.25 20.0 3.0 18.0 12.0 8.5 |18.0 itIAS 3.0 16.0 11.5 3.0 18.0 11.75 |8.5 |38:25/9.25/18.0 11.5 |8.5 |3.25/9.25|18.0 12.0 |9.0 {3.0 15.0 12.0 3.0 12.51 |9.5 |3.0 |. 18.0 9.0 |3.2 20.0 12.0 3.25 18.0 12.0 |9.0 |3.0 12.0 ty 8.5 |3.25/9.25)18.0 8.5 |3.50 8.5 13.25 12.0 |9.0 |3.2 |9.0 |18.0 12.5 159.25 11.75 |8.5 |3.25}9.25}18.0 12.0 |8.75|3.25|9.3 |18.0 8.5 |3.0 |9.0 |18.0 8.5 |3.25/9.25)18.0 2) Dp fc : = és as CONDENSED] = . Z a ga MILK nee a < eB | ag OflO8 = re) & io) 5 3 eo} = <>] 4 % - ma of | Of mM | BO Reed ASH — 2 oo) eos be bee & | & |eol| & | w&| & Per | Per | Per'| Per | Per | Per Cent | Cent | Cent | Cent | Cent | Cent g0.0 | 504/@) | |12 80.0 50 4 14 12 83.0 82.5 50 4 |28.07| 7.77 | 12 82.5 50 4 |28.0 |27.66 4) 14 12 28.0°°| 7.7 82.5 30 (®) (®) 14 12 82.5 504} (°) (5) 8 82.5 50 4 |28.0 |27.54 8 80.09 12 80.0 504} () (5) 14 12 82.5 50 4 28.0 27.66 4) 14 12 (°) (®) (®) (®) 4 6 12 454] (°) (®) 12 82.5 50 4 |28.0 |7.76 14 82.5 50 4 14 14 12 80.0 14 10 (41) |25.0 4 82.5 50 ¢ |26.5.) 7.8 14 82.5 504 {28.0 {27.54 | 14 12 14 80.0 2 (38) |25.0 4 81.5 14 30 | (14) (14) 12 SP ’ 8 6 80.0 504 /28.0 |27.54 | 14 12 80.0 504} (5) (®) 14 12 82.5 2 ees al 8 30 82.5 50 4 |28.0 8.0 14 82.5 50 4 |28.0 (18) 14 12 298 APPENDIX TaBLE 49.— AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF MILK AND ITs. Propwucts WATER ASH PROTEIN SuGAR Fat Skim-milk, gravity. .| 89.88 Ey a 3.54 4.91 0.90 Skim-milk, separator . | 90.60 .78 Bays 4.95 0.10 Buttermilk. \2>-54-0 53-01-24 .70 3.50 4.00 0.56 Whey <6.

. ; 90.5 20.3 69.4 Dried Distillers’ Grain ; 92.4 | 22.8 88.6 Wet Beet Pulp. . ... 10.2 5 8.2 Dried Beet Pulp .. . 91.6 4.1 69.0 Sugar-beet Molasses . . , 19.2 4.7 58.8 Silage. OLE 1 DURAN Save ae Sesto oe 26.4 1.4 17.2 RET ee. oes 4 23.9 - 0.1 14.1 He COVER 35 oes ee 28.0 ho 11.8 BOVMea aehe tei vod obs 25.8 PY 15.2 Cowpea. Vine oo wi. 20.7 VS 12.1 302 APPENDIX TotTaL Dry DIGESTIBLE TorTaL MATTER PROTEIN NUTRIMENT Dried Roughage. Fodder Corn with Ears . 57.8 25 39.8 Corn Stover, Ears removed 59.5 1.4 34.2 PEM OY eee Syekea ee 86.8 2.8 48.1 Orchard Grass: s.-e- 90.1 ‘ 4.9 50.4 Redtop. -.—. Moe 91.1 4.8 - 93.9 Kentucky Bluegrass - tae 86.0 4.4 46.2 Bermuda Grass eae oa 92.9 6.4 54.9 -donnson: Grassy At sole ose 89.8 2.9 50.3 Perla ior eet Been Vine 85.0 ee 51.6 Oat ies pice” reuegh ts 86.0 4.7 45.2 Hungarian Grass PN Pics 86.0 5.0 54.4 Prairie Grass ..-. . 90.8 3.0 49.5 Buftalo Grass" 7. 0 oe 85.0 3.0 48.6 Hay from Legumes and Mixed Legumes and Grasses. Ree Clover...) ood 84.7 7 a | 48.9 Wistke Clover io 22 6 90.3 8.4 50.6 Crimson Clover aise se 90.4 10.5 48.1 Sweet Glover: sc, ts She 92.1 11.9 49.7 OVE Pi. Sg Trad oe ee 88.2 10.6 54.2 Cowpea ~.... = : 89.5 13a 49.1 Alfalfa (western Fig ‘Ss. ) ‘ 93.2 1 eS 51.5 Hairy (winter) Vetch ; 88.7 11.9 56.2 Peanut Vine 5 leg kia 92.4 EZ. 55.6 Oat and Pea : 89.5 7.6 52.4 Mixed Grasses and Clover 87.1 5.8 DUD Straw and Chaff. Od eo ot oe ene ee 90.4 8 36.9 Rye pas Altealeah e Ae Lae 92.9 ai 41.2 Oat Me that Ge Cog: 90.8 1:3 42.6 Barley Be ght a Re ae 85.8 9 42.3 Buekwhéat.- ~~ *.--.- 225 90.1 L2 39.7 Fresh Green Roughage. Green Corn and Sorghum- forage. APPENDIX 303 TotTaLt Dry DIGESTIBLE Toran MATTER PROTEIN NUTRIMENT Fodder, Corn, all Mtmieiios= 228 258 20.7 1.0 13.8 Sweet Varieties. . .. 20.9 12 14.7 Fresh Green Grasses . . Pasture Grass: >. 20. 25 IS a Kentucky Blue-grass .. 34.9 2.8 24.2 Mamtpiy eek, 38.4 £5 22.7 Orehard Grass...) 27.0 1 2 15:7 Redtop in bloom .. ., 34.7 1.9 24.3 Wheat Forage .... Ae a 17 14.6 Rye Forage . cae 23.4 2.1 eee Oat Forage, in Milk si SN 37.8 2.5 22.9 Darley Porage= ... . - 21.0 1.9 12.9 Johnson Grass... :. . 25.0 6 147 Bermuda Grass 27 ate 28.3 1.3 15.6 Common Millet hp we 20.0 0.8 1233 Fresh Green Legumes, Grasses and Legumes Combined. mor Clover “5... , 29.2 2.9 19.3 Alsike Clover 4 25 We. 2.6 15.4 Crimson Clover eae 19.1 2.4 12.6 Sweet Clover .... ~ 20.0 2.5 11.8 . Alfalfa ae Sit wigs aa UN 28.2 3.6 16.6 Cowpea Pree we Ma 16.4 1.8 11.0 Soybean . ae 24.9 oo lek Canada Field-pea = 15.3 1.8 9.4 ion and Tubers. Potatoes 20.9 LE 17.0 Common Beet Lis 1.2 9.3 Mangel 9.1 1.0 7.0 Sugar Beet :13.5 1.3 11.3 Flat Turnip . 9.9 | 9 7.5 Carrot . 11.4 8 9.2 Rutabaga 11.4 1.0 9.5 Miscellaneous. Dwarf Essex Rape 14.3 2.0 10.6 Cabbage 10.0 2.3 8.4 Field Pumpkins 9.1 LO 1.0 304 ' APPENDIX Wina’s Metruop oF BALANCING RATIONS A short method of balancing rations devised by H. H. Wing is practical and convenient. He divides the ordniary grains into three groups: low pro- tein (less than 12 per cent); medium protein (12 to 25 per cent); high protein (over 25 per cent). The figures given in the table are for the total and not the digestible protein. TaspLE 52.— WinG@’s Metruop or BALANCING RATIONS Low PROTEIN GROUP MepiumM Protein GROUP HieoH PROTEIN GROUP Total Protein 12% or less | Total Protein 12% to 25% | Total Protein 25% or more Gorn (3% 6... Ph) = 10538) | Wheat brant >>. -15:4,)| Malt sprouts: 26.3 * Oats. ... ..: . 11/4 | Mixed wheat feed . 16.3 | Linseed oil meal - . (33a9 Wheat . . . . . 11.9 | Wheat middlings 16.9 | Cottonseed meal. . . 45.3. Rye oo. 0.0. 2 3. 11387) Cottonseed feed: 20.0 | Gluten feed eer | Barley . . . . . 12.0 | Buckwheat feed 18.3 | Brewers’ dried grains 25.0 Buckwheat 10.8 | Pea meal . : 20.2 | Distillers’ dried grains r (corn): +: 5) 35 ae ee Hominy chop... 10.5 | Cull beans . 21.6 | Buckwheat middlings . 26.7 Dried beet pulp 8.1 Corn-and-cob meal 8.5 Mixed hay, corn silage, and corn fodder are very similar in composition as far as the relation between the protein and carbohydrates is concerned. When roughage of this class is used, a grain mixture made. by mixing equal parts by weight of one from each of the three groups will make a well- balanced ration. A dairy cow in full flow of milk should receive all the hay and silage she will eat and the grain mix- ture at the rate of one-pound for each 3 or 3} pounds of milk that she produces, if this milk be about the average composition of 4. percent. If the milk contains 3 to 3.5 percent fat, 1 pound grain to 4 pounds of milk is sufficient. If alfalfa hay is used the high protein feed is not necessary. APPENDIX 305 TABLE 53. — AVERAGE WEIGHTS OF DIFFERENT F'EEDING-STUFFs ! Penoiva Srurs et age Nr Sein irad 5 f Pounds Quarts Pemereirsa ls Ser ee er, | 0.9 1 S10 0 ai ia ae 1.5 0.7 Brewers’ dried grains - . .. . 0.6 7 Gorn-and-cob mesh. 9. os 1.4 0.7 Corp-and-oat-feed 94.0 65... 0.7 1.4 [OSA Li ae a a ee a 0.5 2.0 rea e ee NSE cS yy 1S 0.7 Corn, whole | oor LF 0.6 Cottonseed meal . Le hea ai de a 1.5 0.7 Distillers’ erains, dried» 2°... 0.5-0.7 1.0-1.4 ‘Germ oil meal 1.4 0.7 Gluten feed 1h 0.8 Gluten meal Id 0.6 Hominy meal . Let 0.9 Linseed meal, new process 0.9 je Linseed meal, old process 1.1 0.9 Malt sprouts . 0.6 1 na Oats, ground . SVU 1.4 Oats, whole 1.0 1.0 Rye bran . 0.6 1.8 Rye meal . 1.5 0.7 Rye, whole iy 0.6 Wheat bran 0.5 2.0 Wheat, ground Ee 0.6 Wheat middlings (flour) set 5 0.8 Wheat middlings EN: 0.8 1.3 Wheat, whole i 2.0 0.5 Ruues FoR MEASURING FEED Measuring Grain. A bushel of grain contains approxi- mately 5 cubic feet. To find the capacity of a bin, find the number of cubic feet and multiply by 4, or multiply by 8 and divide by 10. Measuring Ear Corn. Two bushels of ears are ordinarily required to make one bushel of grain. To find the capacity ot OFS 4 Dept. Agr., Farmers’ Bulletin 222. : = 306 APPENDIX of a crib, find the number of cubic feet and multiply by 2,0r multiply by 4 and divide by 10. Seventy pounds of ear corn is ordinarily called a bushel. Measuring Straw. Few weights of straw have been re- ported. The writer measured and weighed two barns full of settled wheat straw. The mows were 14 feet deep, 1200 cubic feet were required for one ton. Measuring Hay. Some kinds of hay are heavier than others. The deeper the mow or stack and the longer it has stood, the heavier the hay is per cubic foot. Of course the bottom of a mow is much heavier than the top. Usually about 500 cubic feet of settled hay are counted as one ton. A barn 30 X 60 feet and 16 feet from floor to top of the plate, and having the peak 9 feet above the plate, was filled - as full as possible with timothy hay and refilled after a few days. This hay was baled by the writer about five months later. It weighed 514 tons. On another year it weighed 51 tons.