The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, November 15, 1917, Page 16

2 e B A st T e Efficiency and Cost of Cream Wisconsin Cow Testmg Association Shows Superiority of Well Bred Milch Cows—Some Factors in HOTEL proprietor (who operates a farm in connec- tion) was’ recently quoted as saying that it was outrageous to pay 45 cents a pound for butter——that he could produce butter for 22 cents a pound on his own farm, and he would have no more of the creamery article. Farmers who were milking cows, turning hand separators, and rationing out silage naturally scowled at such a statement. How could the hotel man do it? He couldn’'t they said. They knew that the 43 to 47 cents a pound they were getting for butterfat was not half profit. Of course this hotel man was mostly wrong—and a little bit right. As long as he was running his farm merely to furnish his hotel with dairy products at cost, he might come near the figures he mentioned. But the average farmer is not farming with the idea of just making his costs. He is operating for a profit, just as the hotel man was operating his hotel for a profit. He could afford to market his farm prod- ucts to himself without figuring farm profits, because he was making his business profit from selling these arti- cles again to his hotel guests. He didn’t need to figure anything but his actual cash outlay, but a farmer who is operating his farm as his business, must figure overhead costs carefully, his children’s labor, taxes, interest, in- surance, depreciation, and in fact everything that any business figures. The hotel man of course did figure in all these things on his main business, which was running his hotel, and he should. His hotel should bring. him a profit besides his overhead expenses. BEST COWS WERE MOST ECONOMICAL PRODUCERS Now come some interesting Wiscon- sin figures on milk and butterfat costs. Wisconsin, that great dairy state, the guide to so many communities in their farming operations, may be relied upon - to do something progressive every lit- tle while. Nowhere else have the popular cow testing associations yield- ed more useful truth. A certain Wisconsin cow testing as- sociation divided its cows into several groups according to the productivity of the individual cows. The best pro- ducers went into one group, others less productive into another, the poorest into another, etc. When figures for the best cows were compiled, it was found that they produced butterfat at an ac- tual cost of 22.5 cents per pound, and that each cow made a net annual profit of $96.82. But take notice of what kind of cows these were: KEach one of them produced an average of 9182 pounds of milk a year, or 386.9 pounds of butter- fat. That is over four and one-half tons of milk per year. It was figured that these cows produced their milk at an actual cost of 94.5 cents per 100 pounds. If the hotel man had cows of this superior quality he may have produced his butterfat at a cost of 22 cents per pound, and that is about the actual the Production of Butter cost of the butter, for the “overrun” in butterfat more than makes up for the cost of manufacture. But if he had had cows averaging no better than the lowest group in this testing association, his butterfat would have cost him more than 10 cents a pound additional. POOR COWS' CREAM COST 10 CENTS MORE The poorest cows averaged only 4317 pounds of milk in a -year, less than half as much as the good ones, and produced only 169.8 pounds of butter- fat, much less than half of. what the good ones produced. The profit from these cows was only $24.84 as against $96.82 for the best ones. They pro- duced their smaller amount of butter- fat at a cost of 32.7 cents per pound, and their milk at $1.29 per 100 pounds. e ‘When glib talk is going the rounds, as to how much profit is to be 'made on farms, it is' well generally to take it with a grain of salt until one knows~ the method used to arrive at the alleg- ed profits, The farmer giving statis- tics showing he could produce butter- fat at 22 certs a pound must have first class livestock (meaning heavier in=- vestment) or other advantages; while 32 cents would come nearer the aver- age farm cost where the cows are not .a principal part of the farm industry. In many cases it would be much more. But these figures emphasize again the advantage of having purebred or high grade milch cows. These are assets when many others are liabilities. Along with showing the costs of producing milk and cream the cow testing asso- ciations are showing the supermnty of well bred stock. A FARMER AND HIS JOB Nebraska corn fed hogs, the kind that bring the money at the stockyards. They belong to Hlyo Aden of Hazard, Ne« braska, who is shown feeding them. A “Million Dollar Shock”—Plus 1 ERE is some fun. Anyone remember that story printed in the Nonpartisan Leader August 10, 1916 about “A Million Dollar Shock”? Farm- er Ebner of Cando, N. D., told in that issue how to build a shock that would save farmers $1,000,000 every year. He built it with the knots out. It was s0 good he offered 100 bushels of wheat (D feed or better) to the farmer who could build a better one. Farmer Fechner of Hatton tried to build a better one last year and get that 100 bushels to add to his crop, but his crop turned out so badly he had to wait until this year. Now he wants Farmer IEbner’'s wheat, but offers to let him off for five bushels, ‘Who is right, Ebner or Fechner? Should the knots be out or in? Some- one ought to decide. Maybe Farmer Ebner will be convinced, maybe he will convince Farmer Fechner. Herewith is a little summary of the affair taken from the Leader of Aug. 10, 1916, and Mr. Ileckner's letter: FARMER EBNER EXPLAINS MILLION DOLLAR SHOCK Editor Nonpartisan Leader: The writer has farmed right here in Towner county for 32 years and never did much else but farm all his life and it cost him at least $5000 in experience to learn to build a shock which, if built universally over the state instead of the shocks that are usually “set up,” world save the farmers at least $1,000,- 000 clean cash every year, we are cer- tain. And we are writing the Leader because we feel certain that if you can give it space in your columns it will reach more farmers who will appreciate its merits and benefit by them than in any othe~ publication that we know of. % * % To this first pair of sheaves he adds pair after pair both north and south, always dropping them from the arms with the knots outward. * #* = The writer will give 100 bushels of wheat for an altogether better shock than the one described above, or five bushels for any improvement. = This ought to be a snap for some of our county agent and Better Farming superintendents.. Here is hoping we will hear from them. K. F. EBNER. FARMER FECHNER CLAIMS THE BIG PRIZE My dear FFarmer K. F. Ebner: I come to claim the five bushels of wheat ($10 by check, please) that you offered to the boy rube that can beat your “million dollar shock,” as it ap- peared in the-Nonpartisan Leader a year ago. I hope you have a copy of that article. Your shock is good enough in all re- spects but ONE. I am just a lititle boy shocker_ as I weigh only 144 pounds, but it didn’t cost me $5000 to learn to build a perfect shock instead of like yours, ALL INSIDE OUT, and that is the point where I ought to have close to the 100 bushels of wheat you offer, but will let it pass for just five bushels, as I suppose your crop is light this year, while down here it is good. ‘We got 18 bushels to the acre of wheat this year, but we got the blues last year as a crashing hail storm came and did our shocking. I would have answered you before, but I want- ed to see some nice sheaves first, so as to have lots ,of proof that your shock IS INSIDE OUT. SHOULD THE KNOT BE UP OR DOWN? - Say, why did you put the knot of the twine down under the top sheaf of your shock, while you put the knot outside all through the shock? Eh? Well, you are right about the top sheaf only. On all standard Deering binder sheaves, the heads of the grain are packed to- gether near the twine and there is where the knot of the twine is too. So. to get the heads inside the shock so as to protect the wheat from the weather, it is most important in a per- fect shock to. put the knot side of the bundle inward and not outward as you have it in the Leader. The side of & good sheaf where the knot is not found, is really the back side of the sheaf, and if the straw is good, this side placed outward will shed the water like a shingle. There are usually no heads except at the top and those will be fairly covered by your top sheaves. In my shock, Mr. Farmer Ebner, there will be very few heads outside the shock to face the weather, and my shock will shed the water while yours will be soaked. . I will call on any good old farmer in the state who has examined the bundles of grain at all, to be my - judge, and say if I am not entitled to your five bushels of wheat. 55 I never yet needed to take my hat off for any shocker with whom I came in contact, but my days at the shocking business are now about over unless Mr. Ebner should wish to pay my railroad fare both ways next year and have this little boy come and shock for him. Yours as a shocker. GILBERT O. FECHNER. CONTAGIOUS ABORTION Contagious abortion does much damage in some herds. It has been found that infected cows do mnot con- tinue to abort. When it first breaks out in the herd a considerable number usually throw their calves. During the second year the abortions will be less and the third year the cases will be few. In this way the disease disap- pears automatically provided that no new susceptible animals are added to the herd. Disposing of the cows that haye aborted and buying new ones usually results in prolonging the disease in the herd. The contagious abortion germs are often spread by the bull, so great care need be exercised in purchasing a sire to make sure that he is free from-the contagion and also not . to allow him to serve cows that are : affected, The shortage of sugar will teach some folks how good many things taste without it. Without more meat and fat from America than the allies have received in the past three years, they tan net remain in fighting trim. “AGE SIXTEEN : Electricity for the Farm Forty thousand families on farms are enjoying the delights of electrie lights—home made electric lights. It is'one of the things that helps to make the farm attractive, or at least helps to remove some of its handicaps. In the country where small streams abound many farmers have put in in- dividual water power plants of thelr own that furnish light for house and barn, and sometimes light for a big lamp at the gate in the lane. But in even the flattest country devoid of streams, it is now possible for farm homes to be equipped with electric lights by the installation of small gasoline driven plants, of which there are several makes. A/ large number of Northwestern farm homes are equipped with such plants, but as yet this form of useful luxury is large- ly confined to the vicinity of towns and cities where a central plant can be tapped. This need not be so, however, for the thousands who have installed their small gasoline plants have found them satisfactory. Such a lighting sys= tem is at once better than any othee form of light, and safer. The dangee of overturned lanterns in the barn, and the inconvenience of pouring kerosene and cleaning globes, give way to the use of a handy switch, and it means actual hard cash saved as well as con- venience because it saves costly time and labor. For these small plants, some of them of only two horsepower each, can be geared to many light kinds of house- hold or barn machinery, and will de much of the work that is ordinarily done by hand less satisfactorily. But it is not mere indulgence in luxury to buy such plants, and the farmer who feels he can afford a small inyestment, will find himself repaid in comfort, con- venience and the econom.leu that they —l-to posdbh. 555