OCR Text |
Show COW-TESTING URGED FOR BEST DAIRYING Records of Oldest Associations Show Increased Profits. Members Tell of Large Production of Butterfat and Saving of Feed' Bills Many Worthless Cows Dincovered. (Piepared by the United States Department Depart-ment of Agriculture.) Cow-testing associations pay and pay well, Who says so? The dairymen dairy-men wlio belong say so. Ten years' records from the oldest association In the United States say so. And several years' records from hundreds of associations asso-ciations J-.rH the same story to the dairy division of the United States department of agriculture. Association members say: "I am making three times as much net profit from 12 cows as I formerly made from 18." "Through the work of the association asso-ciation I have saved one-third of my feed bill." "The association hits returned re-turned more than 500 per cent on wh.'it It has cost me." "I am perfectly astonished aston-ished at t lie results. I thought I had a very good herd of butter cows, hut have found many of them worse than worthless." The first cow-testing association In the United States began its work In Newaygo County, Michigan, in J900. The average butterfat production for the first year was 215 pounds a cow. It Increased the second year to 220 pounds. It rose (he third year to 252 pounds. The; next year it passed the 200-pound mark, and it has been higher tlifi.ii that every year since. The average, production of fhe last three yearn was 00 pounds of butterfat above that of the first year. 1 low-much low-much the average of the first year exceeded that of the year before the work begun Is not a matter of record, but doubtless the first year of association asso-ciation work showed some striking gains. Even aside, from these, how-'ever, how-'ever, and counting only (he 00 pounds of butterfat, the gains are still fur above the cost of testing. The esllmaled average bullerfiit produiiion of all the dairy cows In the United Slates Is about 100 pounds n year. From SO yearly summaries of row-testing associations, Including the records of 20,710 cows, their bullerfiit production averaged 215 pounds a year. Tbld Is inore than 50 per cent above the country's average production, produc-tion, and n large part of the gain may fairly be attributed to association work'. |