HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION1
5
Better Cows and Larger Profits
BY H. E. EltDMAINK.
WT1IIN' the past few years a
great deal has been said and
written about the decreased
profits In the dairy business. Nor is
it surprising that such a cry Bhould
go up. In almost every section feed
is much higher than it was in the
"good old days" gone by. Help has
gone up and is still going. Land is
becoming scarce. There Is little new
land to be occupied in this country,
hence the rising price. In some sec
tions of the Middle West land prices
have gone to what seems like the' up
per limit. Prices of beef have been
so high that the amount of money
invested In a herd of ordinary cows
is 50 to 100 per cent higher than it
was 20 years ago.
Because of these conditions many
have gone out of dairying, preferring
to sell their crops rather than to have
expensive and often incompetent help
feed them to high-priced cows.
Xeed of Hotter Cows.
In other lines of manufacture there
have been similar decreases in the
profits. In many instances for ex
ample the manufacture of shoes
the cost of raw material and labor
has gone up faster than the price of
the finished product. To meet the
situation, shoe manufacturers in
stalled machines that enabled their
men to make better shoes In less time
than formerly. The result was that
while there is less profit ou each shoe
now, each man can do enough more
work to bring the profits up to or be
yond what they were. The same
thing was done In many other lines
of production, and must be done in
the dairy industry if the greatest
profits are to be realized.
What the dairy Industry needs,
more than anything else, to increase
the profits, Is better cows. I do not
mean pure breds, necessarily, nor ex
pensive cows, but ordinary good cows,
such as every dairyman can raise.
There is scarcely a herd that does not
contain some cows that are money
losers instead of money-makers. This
is shown in almost every herd test
that has ever been conducted.
Getting Good Average.
At the National Dairy Show at Chi
cago last year there was a demon
stration herd consisting of nine cows,
mixed breeds and grades. No effort
was made to select unusually good
cows, the aim being to get as nearly
as possible an average herd. In this
herd the best cow returned $2.77
worth of butter-fat for each $1 worth
of feed she consumed, while the poor
est cow returned but 60c for each $1
worth of feed consumed.
Similar results are reported from
every part of the country. In bul
letin 322 of the New York Experi
ment Station, an Instance is cited in
which a cheese factory In one year
paid one patron $877 for the milk
from eight cows, while it paid an
other man $9 less, $868, for the milk
from 22 cows.
The most interesting thing about
this whole problem of poor cows is
the simple method by which produc
tion may be increased. I refer to the
use of a good sire. No dairyman
should ever use a Bire whose nearest
dams were not good producers, and
at this time over 20 years after the
discovery and Introduction of the
Babcock test no dairyman should
ever buy a bull calf unless the seller
can show in black and white what
kind of producers the dam and two
nearest grandams were.
Worth of Good Sires.
The question is often asked, "what
is a good sire worth?" Lot us fig
ure a little. Suppose a man has 10
cows, producing on an average 200
pounds of butter-fat per year. From
these 10 cows he Bhould raise at
least four heifer calves each year, or
eight heifer calves during the two
years a dairy bull Is usually kept.
When a good sire is mated to such
cows the resulting heifers will often
produce 75 to 160 pounds more butter-fat
each year than did their dams.
But suppose each of these eight
heifers produce only 30 pounds nioro
than their dams. Then during six
years the average milking life of a
cow, each heifer would produce 180
pounds more butter-fat than would
have been produced had the sire been
no better than the dam. One hun
dred and eighty pounds of fat at 25c
la worth $45. Multiply this by eight
and you have $360, or the amount
that the extra quality of the sire has
added to the value of the product of
his eight heifers. Tho man who is
In the business to mako money and
who is In it for any other reason?
cannot ignore this phase of the busi
ness. Usually when a man finds out that
his cows are not what he wants, he
is in such a hurry to sell them and
buy good ones that he will sell them
for what he can get and pay almost
any price for what he wants to buy.
That is a mistake. Unless his cows
are actually robbers, he had better
keep them and mate them to good
sires.
Then by raising the heifers from
the best cows, testing and weighing
the milk from all the cows often
enough to know what each one Is
doing, he can gradually build up his
herd. This takes time, but it Is sur
prising what 10 years or even five
of this kind of breeding will do.
Of course there are often oppor
tunities to buy a few good cows, but
it is usually the poor cows that are
offered for sale. Remember, a dairy
man seldom offers to sell a good,
tested cow. Unless he is going out
of business he will sell only his poor
er cows. It behooves every dairyman
to get the use of a good sire, and then
raise the good heifers those from
the best cows.
vember. The milk contained 60.73
pounds of butterfat, which was sold
for 33 cents per pound.
The value of this and the skim-milk
amounted to $23.97. The cost for
feed was $6.80, leaving a profit of
$17.17 for one cow for one month.
The same man, living on a 160-acre
farm in Gallia County, sold $1500
worth of hogs during the year and
as much more was received for cream.
This showing was made in a county
where the soil Is supposed to be poor.
The activities of the association
are also applied to the buying of fer
tilizers and feed. When orders are
taken for the purchase of any large
quantity of feed or fertilizer, each
order must be accompauied by $2 in
cash. When the fertilizer arrives the
buyer takes It from the car and pays
for It at that time. Should he refuse
to take it he forfeits the $2.
A saving of several dollars per ton
Is effected by such co-operative buy
ing. With such practical results as
this already realized by several farm
ers' organizations in Ohio the out
look for this phase of co-operation
is bright.
Money-Makers Are Soon
Shown by Testing Cows
COW testing shows the money-makers.
The best cows in many Wis
consin herds are returning a profit of
$100 or more every year. It is pos
sible to have every cow kept do as
well.
The loafers the cows that con
sume more than they return are
quickly spotted and eliminated when
the cow test is used. No successful
merchant handles a line of goods on
which he loses money; likewise, no
progressive dairyman will milk a cow
on which he does not make a profit.
The milking of cows is a straight
business proposition, and no farmer
can afford to spend his own time or
pay high priced labor to milk cows
which do not pay for their board.
Let's make the $100 return per cow
our standard.
To build up a profitable herd the
cow test Is indispensable. It enables
tho dairyman to quickly get a high
producing herd by selecting heifers
from only the best cows. In this
connection the sires that are capable
of transmitting dairy quality and tem
perament to their offspring can be
proven. The very general practice
of sending mature bulls to the block,
when they are just in their prime for
breeding purposes, Is detrimental to
our dairy Industry and should be
stopped.
Cow testing also pays because sur
plus stock of both sexes sells for high
er prices when buyers can see what
the ancestors of these animals have
done In the line of milk and butter
fat production. When using the test,
farmers may know their cows as in
dividuals and feed so as to get the
greatest return for every dollar's
worth of feed provided. The value of
the silo in supplying fresh Summer
succulence during the Winter months,
and In helping out when pastures dry
up in Summer, is also shown best
when cows are under test. G. R. In
galls, Wisconsin.
Co-operation in Buying
and in Testing the Cow
SOME of the leading farmers of
Gallia County, Ohio, are awaken
ing to the possibilities of organized
effort and co-operation. This has led
them to form two co-operative organ
izations, the Gallia County Cow Test
ing Association and the Gallia County
Buying Association. The same offi
cers control both organizations and
one man can belong to both or only
one.
Each of the 25 men who are now
In the Cow Testing Association pays
$15 toward the expense of keeping
a tester and if more than 10 cows
are being tested by a member, the
cost is $1.50 per cow. Since there
are 26 working days in the month,
the tester Is busy every day. One man
found that one of his cows gave 1163
This Might Be Worse.
A Denver woman bought what she
thought was a piece of land. But
when she got a description of It she
was horrified to find that this was
what she had purchased:
"Fifteen and eight chains, ninety
two links, thirty-one chains and eight
links, ninety-two and one-half links,
more or less."
She rushed to the real estate agent.
"This Is a swindle," she said
breathlessly; "I thought I was get
ting some property but I find I've
purchased an iron or golf foundry.
I don't know which; and I don't know
whether I've got even that or not
because it says 'more or less.' "
"That description refers to the sur
vey," explained the agent. The pur
chaser was relieved and she apolo
gized. "It is a rattling good bar
gain," she said, "and If you hear any
more noises like it let me know."
Buy it now
Don't buy what you
don't need, but buy
what you do need,
now. It will put
thousands of idle
men at work who are
suffering this Winter
A Story of Achievement
Largest Musical Instrument House
on Pacific Coast Located in
Portland.
Sixteen years aso the first Eilers
Piano Store on the Pacific Coast was
establiBhed at Portland. Last year
more than one-half of all the highest
grade pianos and player pianos that
were sold In all the Pacific Coast States
were sold through the Eilers stoles.
From one small store, the organiza
tion has grown to a mighty chain.
From selling a few hundred pianos In
a year. It has defeloped until now the
sales annually are numbered by many
thousands of instruments.
No business could grow to these won
derful proportions without good rea
son. The ever-Increasing patronage
of the Eilers Piano Houses would
have been impossible without the
thorough confluence of all the people,
gained because of handling the very
best and most dependable Instrument
and showing every patron of the house
the most liberal and straightforward
treatment.
From the day we first opened our
business in Portland until the present
time it has been our constant endeavor
to make every customer a satisfied
customer. The good will and the In
fluence of our patrons have always
teen recognized by us as the best ad
vertising that we can possibly have. .
Prices for new pianos begin at 1137
and $15 and range upwapds by easy
stages to 10 times yes, more than 15
times the price, for the costliest styles
of Kimball, Hazleton and Chlekering
art uprights and grands.
All our prices are upon cash basis,
and simple interest at 8 per cent per
annum (not upon the whole amount
but upon tlie unpaid halance) is
charged upon deferred payments.
Organs range from up. The gen.
ulne Autopiano, Orchestrions, Electric
Pianos and all the best makes of talk
ing machines and talking machine
records are here.
Vie arrange terms of payment to
suit any reasonable convenience.
Are you Interested In a Piano
Organ or talking machine? If so,
cut out and mail this coupon today
and we will send you free of charge
a book of "Old Favorite Songs."
Eilers Music House, Broadway, at
Alder, Portland, Or.
Name
Address
Ellem Building.
Broadway at Alder
I
unm
This Metronome FREE to Students
It regulates your counting and is indispensable
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LEARN TO PLAY ANY
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Our new extension course indorsed by prom
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6TI1 AND AMKSV STS.,
rOHTLAXU, OH.
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