PROFITABLE AND UNPROFITABLE COWS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 714, 21 October 1914, Page 7

PROFITABLE AND UNPROFITABLE COWS.

Only a rich man can afford to keep inferior cows. Sometimes it is said that a man, unless he is well off, cannot afford to own good cows, but that is not true. If he can afford to own any, he can afford to own the best. The man who refuses to take the necessary steps to secure a good cow must work double time to get any profit, and wait years before she can breed up to higher standard. It lias to be realised at the beginning that it is better to put all the money in half a dozen good cowb than in a doz«n inferior ones. The protfis of dairying depend entirely upon the cows and the system of raising feed and giving it to the animaU. It has been proved that good, not fancy bred, cows, have made £lO profit per year net for their ownera, after ttee cost of feed had been deducted and all other charges. If one good cow will make that profit, a herd of ten or twelve should net a fairly good income. This can be done in almoßt any region where good methods of farming and dairying are observed. More can be accomplished, but this is enough to show what some dairies can and are doing. It matters not so much what kind of breed, so long as the animals are adapted to dairying, and ara good representatives of their breed. Each animal must be judged on its individual merits and if not up to the standard it Bhould be discarded. Price does not alway measure the value of a profitable cow. Sometimes high prices ars tacked n for cattle of certain structural forms and breed characteristics, which would not be of any use to the ordinary farmer.