Henry Baird Favill, AB, MD, LL.D., 1860-1916, a ... - University Library

496 HENRY BAIRD FAVILL
not economically justified? The estimates are from 25 to
40 per cent, but there is no question that there are multitudes
of cows milked twice a day, eating feed that they are
not paying for, according to the milk they produce. What
are we going to do about it? We talk about our cow testing
associations measuring our product by the pound, our
scrupulous care in weeding out the poorer cows, because they
are not profitable, and so forth.
It is hard to say what the
result would be towards the general milk situation and it is
very hard to say that we can afford to kill off wholesale
all those cows that are close to the margin of profit. I suppose
that there are cows that are bad enough to be killed,
but there are many cows that milk close enough so that we
can't afford to spare them. What good are they, if we
increase that kind of cows? There is the whole point.
If it
be true that a mediocre cow, an unprofitable cow,
can not produce with the right management a calf that will
grow up into a better cow, then there is no use in permitting
the life of such a cow to continue. But, you know that
is not true. Crossing good bulls on inferior cows has built
up good herds. It is the very essence of this question that
I am now propounding for our milk supply.
Bear in mind that we are not going to deal with the
question of our increased milk supply from the standpoint
of big herds with sixty or seventy cows. We are going to
deal with it from the standpoint of the farmer with from
three to fifteen cows. That is how we are going to deal
with it. Bear in mind that I am not going to defend the
border cow, but, if she is reasonably hopeful we do not
want to kill her, because it is possible for the next generation
to be better, and we want the next generation to be
brought upon a better basis.
It comes down to the question of what the average
farmer is going to do about it. "What is the use of my
having a good bull? Anything will do." That is a hopeless
situation, and the sooner he is brought out of it, the