OCR Text |
Show I j : Cow Testing Has Pied I ' ; ! ? to Be a Great Success HH Associations Increase as Accurate HH Records of Milk and Butterfat HB I Prove Their Usefulness H One hundred and sixty thrco coop- HH cratlvo cow testing associations wcro HH ' In operation last year In the United HH States. This Is considered to ho a HH rapid growth when It Is remembered HH that tho first association In this conn- HH; try was organized In Fremont, Mich., HH In 1905, and that as lato as 1908 only HH six associations had been formed. HH rf Tho next yenr, howovor, tho number HH t roso to twonty-flvo and It has been HH r. Increasing rapidly -ever slnco. Am- Hit '-., erica, Is nevertheless In this respcit HH still far behind Kuropo, whoro thoro HBI are nt tho present tlmo between 2500 HH y' , '' and 3000 such associations tho first HH ' having been started In Denmark In HH HH 5 Tho prlnclplo on which Iheso nsso- HHf 5 clatlons work Is both oxtromoly slm- HHl t plo and yot Important. Year nftor HHT year many farmers milk cows that do HH not pay for tho feed they consume HHY f' Indeed, tho nverago nnnual produc- HH i I tlon of n cow In this country Is np- HH proximately 4,000 pounds of milk, con- m talnlng 1C0 pounds of butter fat. Tho HHf best dairymen say thero Is no profit HHl n such production and of courso HHl ' thero aro vast numbers of cows that M fall far below theso figures. To mako HHl his herd n sucicss, therefore, tho HHl farmer must weed out tho animals HHJ that aro costing him monoy and keop HHl thoso that aro bringing It In to him. HHl This, howovor, is not so easy as It HHl may seem. Experiments continually HHl show that It Is Impossible for any HHl man, however experienced ho may bo, H to cstlmato with any nccuracy tho V yearly production of milk from any HHl cow. Somo animals start with a very HHl good production and then drop to a PH very ordlnnry flow, while others glvo V a much moro regular ylold. Tho lat- HHf ' tor may at tho end of tho year havo V given tho farmer much moro milk, V but ho will probably consldor the HHb former to bo tho profitable ones. As HBH a mattor of fact, a man can not guess AS within n quart how much milk thoro HHJ Is In a pall, and If ho Is soiling tho Apt product of his herd on a butterfat HHpJ basis, he knows oven loss of tho HBH yield tram oath Individual animal. HBH (- ( Tho main purposo of tho cow test- HHpJ Ing association Is to cnablo Its mem- HHS bers to hlro n tester to keep tho rec- BBB' ords which In practlco It Is almost BBBj Imposslblo for tho farmer to keep for BBS himself. Tho tester should arrlvo at BBB', tho farm In tlmo for tho nttornoon BBB milking, weigh tho milk given by HHpJ each cow In tho herd, and tako n BBBi samplo of It to test for butter fat. Bit At feeding tlmo ho weighs tho feed BBB given each- cow and estimates well HHpj tho nmount of roughage, lie oIbo BBB keeps n record of feed given to dry HHpj cows as well nB thoso In milk for It HHH is obvious that tho total cost of feed HHH I for tho year must bo taken Into con- HHpJ slderatlon. Tho following morning BBB ' . tho Individual production of tho herd !) ' Is weighed again and If the ration Is changed the feed also Is wolghed. I.nter In tho day tho Dab lock test Is used to detormlno tho porccntago M . of buttor fat In each tow's milk. HBHT I From theso llgurcs It Is posslblo to BBBB estimate tho amount of milk and but- BBBfl tcr fat given In a mouth by a cow HHHj nnd set against It tho amount ot feed BBBfl consumed. This method, ot courso, HHHj does not produce, scientific nccuracy, HHHj but careful tests havo shown that tho BBB results are within 8 por cent ot tho Bflflflj cow's actual production. HHHj Another fcaturo of tho testor's work HHHJ Is to watth tho prices of various feed- HHHJ Ings nnd then to work out for the BBflB farmer tho most economical ration. HHHJ This, togotlier with tho weighing and Pflflflj testing of tho milk, vIU occupy him PflflflJ until It Is tlmo for him to leave In Pflflflj ; order to arrlvo at tho noxt farm to flflflflj test tho afternoon milking. T'li's iho Pflflflj I tesor dovotes one day a month to Pflflflj t each member In tho association and flflflflj ! this limits tho number of mombors PflflflLt to 25 or 2G tho number ot working HHHj days In a month, and defines wlthl'i Bflflflfll somowhat narrow limits tho oxpenB- Pflflflflj' os of conducting tho association. This Pflflflflfi has been found to bo about $550 a pflflflflj I . year, Including tho salary ot tho Pflflflflj P J tester tho cost ot tho acid for tho Pflflflflj ' Jlnbcock test and miscellaneous ox- flflflflj penses. All expenses aro usually B borno by tho mombors In proportion HflflflflM , to tho number of cows they own. HBHHf ' Where tho herds aro largo this may Pflflflfljr ho $1 a cow, but generally It Is 11.50 pflflflflflflj J n year for cath cow. To many farm- pflflflflfll ' ors It may seem unnecessary to hlro pflflflflVl a mau to do work which thoy them- elves are perfectly capable of doing. Tho answer to this Is that while tho farmer unquestionably could do It, it is likely that during tho pressuro of othor work ho would slight his tests. As a matter of fact tho number num-ber of dairymen who nctually do keep records of their work for tho whole year is Insignificant; moreover, It Is really cheapor to havo It dono by tlio tester thon to do It ono's self. Experience Ex-perience has mado tho tester rapid nnd nccurato; ho has at his flngor's ends tho strength of tho acid that ho uses, tho amount to chargo for rougliago and concentrates, and tho analyses of oil tho lommon feeds. It would tako tho avcrogo farmer a long tlmo to hocomo familiar enough with all theso details to do the work as well as tho tester docs. That a cow testing association actually ac-tually docs pay has been proved bo-yond bo-yond all doubt. Slnco tho first organization organ-ization of this kind' was formed In 1005, 7C for ono reason or another havo been discontinued. On tho other oth-er hand tho records of thoso In operation op-eration show oxcellcnt financial results. re-sults. Thero aro seven herds that havo remained continuously In tho Michigan association ever slnco It was formed In 1905. In 1906 they Included In-cluded 50 cows and In 1913, C9 cows. In 190G tho nverago yield for each low was G,885 pounds of milk and 231.1 pounds of butter fat; In 1913 It was G.123.4 or milk and 284.7 pounds of fnt. In tho mcantlmo prices of both feed nnd dairy products had arisen. Tho profit, however, to tho dairymen In tho association roso as well. For each cow It was, In 190C, $22.23 and In 1913 It was $51.08, or an incrcaso of $28.85. It certainly paid theso dairymen, therefore to cm-ploy cm-ploy a tester oven It It Cost them $1.60 a year for each cow. Not only do theso records show which cows mnko or loso monoy for their owners, but thoy show to what extent each is profitable, tho nmount of feed given to each cow, and whnt kinds of feed nt prcvnlllng prices pro-ditto pro-ditto tho most satisfactory financial results. m .m |