Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 147, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 June 1913 — INCOME FROM DAIRY FARMS [ARTICLE]

INCOME FROM DAIRY FARMS

By James R. Garver, Dairy Husbandry Extension, Purdue University Ex- ’ periment Station, •undue University Agricultural Extension. \American people are appreciating more and more the food value of milk and its products and are, therefore, demanding larger supplies. It is estimated that one and one-half quarts of milk are equivalent to one pound of loin steak in protein and fuel value. A pound of loin steak costs twentyfive cents, whereas the cost of one and one-half quarts of milk is twelve and one-half cents when milk sells at eight cents per quart. It is, therefore, shown In this case that animal food nutrients can be supplied in milk at a fifty per cent less cost than in loin steak, which is a point worthy of notice to those who would cut down the high cost of living.

Milk is our cheapest form of animal protein and comes nearest to being a perfect food. It is especially well adapted for the .needs of children, young people and Invalids, and should have a much wider use among these classes, in particular, and cooking in general, than is now practiced. That there is a real demand for this article of food and that the supply is not in excess of this Is shown by the annual milk shortage. This fact was realized in an alarming manner last summer when Indiana cities and cities of neighboring states experienced a milk famine. People will remember that arguments and money meant little when the milk supply was exhausted. This condition should not exist In Indiana where dairying can be conducted so profitably. In no other state can milk be produced by the farmer more economically and profitably than In Indiana. Even the leading dairy states do not have tjie natural *advaa-

tages that Indiana possesses for profitable milk production. The soil and climate conditions are particularly favorable to dairying because all the chief home-grown dairy feeds can be raised successfully, while, on the other hand, the climate is not so severe as to demand an excessive outlay of capital for sheltering purposes. Again, Indiana is splendidly equipped with shipping facilities, as she has numerous trunk lines, branch roads and traction companies, operating within her borders which give her farmers the advantage of many of the leading markets of neighboring states as well as numerous good markets within her own territory. In the face of such facts, more farmers should be turning their attention to milk production, as dairy farming is the logical step toward more intensive methods of agriculture, which are bound to be more and more pertinent questions to the farmer each year. A brief review of the history of na tlons and states in our own country that have successfully met the problem of maintaining and improving the fertility of the soil are those thathave devoted themselves to dairying. One of the reasons for this is thatless soil fertility is sold in butterfat than any other farm product For every one hundred dollars’ worth off .corn a farmer markets, he loses |34.3> worth of soil fertility, whereas ha loses nine cents’ worth of soil fertility’ for every one hundred dollars* worth of butterfat marketed. At present dairy farming is the leading animal industry of our country and is rapidly gaining in popularity because the cow is a more economical, producer of human food than the oc or the pig.