Dairy farming

Introduction

Agriculture now has a recognized place in both, high schools and colleges. If this progress in scientific study is to continue, it is necessary that the instruction be kept on an equal educational basis with all other subjects. The courses in agriculture must stand for good, solid work such as is typical of the entire farming industry. There is a need for textbooks that give the basic principles of the subject briefly without being superficial. To help in meeting this need a series of books, to be known as the Farm Series, is being prepared. The aim of each book will be to discuss the phases of its subject that. are of most importance to the farmer; that is, to answer the farmer's questions, and to make these answers in the form of underlying principles rather than as rules. The positive advice or rules that may work in one region may be absolutely wrong in another region, or at another time in the same region. If one understands the principles involved, he will be better able to change his practice to meet the ever-changing conditions. Statements are often made that a farmer shauld_ raise all his cows, that he should produce winter milk, that he should build a silo. Such rules have no educational value and usually have no practical value. The real problem depends on the factors involved in each case. For instance a few of the points that must be considered in deciding whether or not to build a silo are the adaptation of vi INTRODUCTION

the farm to corn production, the price of hay, the size of the herd, the price of milk, whether winter or summer dairying is followed, the amount of money available. No rule can be made that will include all these points, for many of them may be changed next year.

It is titting that the lirst book of the series should deal with what is probably the most important source of income of American farmers, — dairy farming.

As population increases we must of necessity depend more on dairy products and less on beef cattle. The best methods of producing beef are very different from the best methods of producing milk. Many farmers who once kept beef cattle are changing to dairying. For such farmers a study of dairying is of particular importance because it will bring to them information that has been worked out by long experience in dairy regions. Even in the old established dairy regions the changes in prices of land, feed, labor, and dairy products and the increasing importance of manure for growing cash crops, make a study of the principles of dairy farming of prime importance.

The success of the teacher will depend in large measure on the extent to which the conditions in the community are studied. Many suggestive questions are given after each chapter. Much time should be spent in finding answers to these. A number of laboratory exercises should be given on farms in the region. One should not too lightly condemn the practices of the farmers, but should rather try to learn what are the natural and economic conditions that led to the present practices. Many farmers in the community are in all probability farming in a manner that is best for present conditions, but that may not be best a few years from now when conditions change.

This book is adapted for use in schools and colleges that

INTRODUCTION vii

wish to devote some time to the study of dairy farming. Three to five recitations per week and two laboratory periods per week will usually be desirable. At least a part of the laboratory exercises, and preferably all of them, should be given in periods that are two hours long. If this much time cannot be allowed, the laboratory period may be placed at the end of the day so that when farms are visited, it will be possible to take the longer time that is necessary.

It is hoped that the book will also prove useful to farmers who wish a better understanding of the principles involved in the successful operation of a dairy farm.

G. F. WARREN.

Ithaca, N.Y.,

CHAPTER 1 Importance or the Dairy Industry ..... 1-11

Milk a universal food, 1 — Value of milk as food, 1 — Butter and cheese as food, 2 — One dairy cow per family, 3

— Amounts of dairy products used, 4 — Milk inspection, 5

— Dairy cattle as a source of meat, 5 — Dairy cattle in other countries, — The dairy cow an efficient machine, 7 — Cows effective users of by-products, 7 — Dairying and maintenance of soil fertility, 9 — Cows help to provide a full year's work, 9 — Receipts from dairy products, 10.

Chapter 2

Origin of Breeds : Origin of domesticated cattle, 12 — Origin of breeds, 12 — Definition of terms, 13 — Classification of cattle, 14 — Value of breeds, 14 — Pedigrees, 15.

Dairy Breeds: Number of animals registered, 16 — Holstein-Friesian, 17 — Jersey, 21 — Guernsey, 24 — Ayrshire, 27 — Brown Swiss, 30 — Dutch Belted, 30 — Kerry, 30.

Dual Purpose : Dual Purpose, 31 — Shorthorn, 32 — Polled Durham, 34 — Red Polled, 34 — Devon, 36.

Beef Breeds: Hereford, 37 — Aberdeen-Angus, 37 — Galloway, 38.

ix

X CONTENTS

Chapter 3

Selection of a Breed : Selection of a breed, 40.

Individual Selection : Selection of individual cows, 42 — Extent of variation of individuals, 44 — High-producing cows more economical producers, 46.

Selection by Type : How individual selection is made, 47

— The dairy type, 47 — The udder, 50 — The milk veins and milk wells, 51 — The barrel, 52 — The score card, 53.

Selection by Performance Becords : Selection by records, 56 — Overrating the importance of rich milk, 56 — Complete milk records, 58 — Taking samples for testing, 59 — Averaging tests, 61 — Permanent records, 61 — Cow testing associations, 61 — Advanced registry, 64 — Relation of age of cow to yield and richness of milk, 66.

Selection of a Bull : Selection of the bull, 69 — Difference in transmission of dairy qualities by different bulls, 71

— Methods of selecting a bull, 73 — Cross breeding, 74.

Chapter 4

Decline of milk production in summer, 79 — Protection from flies, 79 — Dehorning, 81 — Marking calves, 82 — Shelter, 82 — Milking the heifer, 83— Methods of milking, 84 — Hard-milking cows, 85 — Effect of interval between milkings, 86 — Milking machines, 86 — Cow with leaky teats, 87 — Bloody milk, 87 — Chapped teats, 88 — Warts on teats, 88— Bitter milk, 88 — Kicking cows, 88— Self-sucking cows, 89 — How long should a cow be dry ? 89 — Drying up a cow, 89 — Milking the cow before calving, 90

— Care of cow after calving, 90 — Management of young stock, 91 — Care and management of the bull, 91.

CONTENTS xi

Chapter 5

Composition of feeds and feeding stuffs : The uses of feed, 94 — Chemical analysis of feeds, 94 — Water, 95 — Ash, 95 — Protein, 95 — Crude fiber, 95 — Nitrogen-free extract, 95 — Fat, or ether extract, 95 — Digestibility, 96 — Production values, 96 — Feeding standards, 97 — Calculating a ration, 100 — The cost of the ration, 105.

Discussion of common feed stuffs: Timothy hay, 106 — Corn stover, 106 — Hay from legumes, 106 — Silage, 107 — Corn, 107 — Wheat bran, 107 — Oats and oat products, 108

— Cottonseed meal, 108 — Linseed meal, 109 — Gluten feed, 109 — Beet pulp and molasses, 109 — Brewers' grains, 109

— Mixed feeds, 110 — Condimental stock foods, 111.

Feeding young stock and dry coivs: Calf raising, 112 — Raising the calf on skim-milk, 113 — Raising calves when whole milk is sold, 116 — The use of milk substitutes, 117

— Feeding for veal, 119 — Feeding the dairy heifer, 120 — Salt requirements, 123 — Feeding the cow when dry, 124.

Feeding the cow in milk : Water for cows, 125 — Turning on pasture, 126 — Feeding grain while on pasture, 127 — Providing for periods of short pasture, 128 — Amount to feed, 129 — The balanced ration, 131 — Succulent feed, 132

— Palatability of the ration, 132 — Order of feeding, 133.

Feeding cows for the maximum production in official tests : Obtaining the maximum production, 133.

Chapter 6

General arrangement of barns, 140 — Lighting, 140 — The floor, 141 — The platform, 142 — The gutter, 144 — The stalls, 144 — Mangeis, 144 — Ties, 145 — Ventilation, 146 — Cost of dairy barns, 147.

xii CONTENTS

CHAPTER 7 CoJiMON Ailments of Cattle 150-167

Normal conditions : The pulse, 150 — Temperature, 151 — Respiration, 151 — Excretions, 151.

Instruments and medicines : Instruments and medicines, 151 — Drenching a cow, 152.

Common ailments: Milk fever, 153 — Abortion, 155 — Tuberculosis, 156 — Inflammation of the udder, 158 — Scours in calves, 160 — Lice, 161 — Bloat, 162 — Cowpox, 162— Blackleg, 163 — Sorghum and kafir poisoning, 164 — Corn-stalk disease, 165.

Chapter 8

Composition of milk: Average composition, 168 — Water, 168 — Fat, 169 — Protein, 170 — Sugar, 170 — Mineral matter or ash, 171 — Color of milk, 171.

Factors affecting composition: Kind of animal, 172 — Breed, 173 — Stage of lactation, 174 — Individuality of the animal, 175 — Interval between milkings, 175 — Fore milk and strippings, 176 — Effect of feed, 176.

IfarArei m^7^• : Sanitary milk, 177 — Certified milk, 181.

Butter making on the farm : Butter making on the farm, 182 — Facilities needed, 183 — What is good butter ? 183 — Flavor, 184 — Body, color, and salt, 184— Separation of cream, 185 — Ripening of cream, 186 — Temperature for churning, 187 — Churns and churning, 188 — Salting and working, 189 — Package, 190.

Factory products: Creameries, 191 — Cheese .making, 192 — Condensed milk, 193 — Milk flour, 194.

CONTENTS xiii

CHAPTER 9 Conditions affecting the Development of Dairying . 202-220

Cattle and grass, 202 — Topography and climate, 203 — Location of beef and dairy cattle, 204 — Relation of transportation to dairying, 208 — Other adjustments due to transportation, 213 — Marginal regions, 214 — Effect of distance to railroad, 214 — Soil and climate as determining the kind of product, 215 — Kind of product and season of production, 215 — Animal unit defined, 218.

Chapter 10

Systems of Farming on Dairy Farms ..... 221-239 Crops for feed: Corn silage, 221 — Soiling crops, 223 —

Roots, 223 — Legumes, 224 — Pasture, 224 — Home-grown

grain, 225.

Cropping systems for dairy farms : Principles of a good

cropping system, 225 — Examples of rotations, 226.

Cash crops and feed raised : Feed and cash crops, 227 — All feed purchased, 228 — Nothing but roughage raised, 228

— Roughage and grain raised, 229 — Roughage and cash crops raised, 229.

Management of manure : Amount of manure produced, 230 — Fertility of feed returned by cows, 231 — Losses of manure and their prevention, 232 — Value of manure, 234

— Value of manure depends on the rate of application, 235

— Value of manure depends on the crop on which it is applied, 238.

Chapter 11

Methods of Renting Dairy Farms ..... 240-245 Cash rent, 240 — Share of crops, 240 — Share of receipts, 240 — Examples of rented farms, 242.

XIV

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 12 Cost of Production and Methods of Marketing

Cost of production : Cost of producing milk, 246 — Cost of raising heifers, 250.

Marketing dairy products: Ways of marketing, 253 — Value of skim-milk in cities, 254.

CHAPTER 13 Other Important Factors for Success in Dairy Farming 258-288

Way s^ef^ measuring profit: The most important factors for succes#, 258 — Ways of measuring profit, 258.

Size of business : Size of business, 259 — Relation of size of farm to efficiency in use of labor, 260 — Relation of size of farm to work done, 262 — Relation of size of farm to efficiency in use of horses, 264 — Relation of size of farm to efficiency in use of machinery, ^65 — Relation of size of farm to efficiency in use of capital, 265 — Size of herd, 267 — Summary of size of dairy farms, 268.

Beturns per cow : Reason for poor returns, 269 — Costs and returns must both be considered, 271 — Poor producers promptly sold, 271 — Size of cows, 271.

Crop yields: Soils for the dairy farm, 274 — The well-balanced farm, 274.

Diversified and specialized dairy farms : Relation of cash crops to profits, 276 — Relation of capital to amount of stock to keep, 277 — Acres per animal unit, 278 — Reasons for large profits on diversified farms, 279.

Some successfid farms : A successful dairy and hog farm in Iowa, 281 — A successful diversified dairy farm in New York, 285.

CONTENTS XV

Addresses of cattle breeders associations, 289 — Scale of points for a Jersey cow, 290 — Scale of points for Ayrshire cow, 291 — Scale of points for Guernsey cow, 293 — Scale of points for Holstein-Friesian cow, 294 — Imports and exports of daily products, 296 — Legal standards for dairy products, 297 — Average composition of milk and its products, 298 — Average weights of milk and cream, 298 — The Hsecker feeding standard, 298 — Wing's method of balancing rations, 304 — Average weights of feeding-stuffs, 305 — Measuring grain, 305 — Measuring ear corn, 305 — Measuring straw, 306 — Measuring hay, 306 — Capacity of silos, 306.

Chapter 1 Importance Of The Dairy Industry

1. Milk a Universal Food. Milk is the one universal food of mankind. All civilized peoples use milk from farm animals. The more highly civilized and prosperous the population, the greater is the amount of milk consumed. In regions so far north that cows cannot be kept, reindeer milk is used. In regions like India and the Philippines, which are too hot for our common cattle, the water buffaloes are the dairy animals and beasts of burden. In the deserts the milk of mares and camels serves as food. In regions where the people are very poor, goats and sheep are used as milk animals. In parts of South America llamas are so used. Everywhere civilized man keeps some milk animal.

2. Value of Milk as Food. The value of milk as food is beginning to be better appreciated, but even now its full value is not always realized. Most liquids have very little food value ; for this reason, all liquids are sometimes looked upon as luxuries. But average milk contains 12 to 13 per cent of dry matter. This dry matter is readily digestible and contains necessary foods in good proportions.

The edible portion of an average beef animal is only 38 per cent dry matter. The remaining 62 per cent is water.^

A quart of milk weighs 2.15 pounds and contains two-thirds as much energy value, and nearly half as much protein as a pound of sirloin steak. It is particularly rich in ash, the bone-forming materials that are so essential for all young animals. It contains about twice as much of these as does beefsteak. A quart of skim-milk has over one-third of the energy value of a pound of sirloin steak. It is richer in ash and has almost half as much protein as the steak, as is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. — Comparison of Sirloin Steak with Milk, Butter,

AND Cheese ^

1 pound sirloin steak 1 quart 4 % milk .... 1 quart skim-milk . . . 1 pound butter .... 1 pound cheese (full cream)

Water

.54

1.87

1.95

.11

.34

Dry

Pounds Pounds

.46 .165

.28 .20 .89 .66

.071 .073 .010 .259

Ash

Energy Value

Calories

As the value of milk as food becomes better known, it is more widely used by persons of all ages. If much that is spent for meat were spent for milk, we could be as well fed at less cost. If much of the money that is spent for tea, coffee, alcohol, and other stimulants, that have little or no food value, were spent for milk, our health and our wealth would both be improved.

3. Butter and Cheese as Food. Butter is often thought of as an expensive food, but it is the most concentrated of

1 U. S. Dept. Agr. ; Office of Experiment Stations, Bulletin (Revised) 28, pp. 27, 28.

2 U. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations, Bulletin (Revised) 28.

IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 3

our ordinary foods. As shown in Table 1, a pound of butter will furnish three and two-thirds times as much energy as a pound of sirloin steak. Usually it does not cost twice as much as the steak. It is one of the cheap animal foods, is highly concentrated and easy to digest. Cheese is a cheap source of animal protein. We use over four times as much butter as cheese, but the amount of cheese used is increasing.

4. One Dairy Cow per Family. In the ten years 1900 to 1910 the number of steers and bulls in the United States decreased one-fifth, but the number of dairy cows increased with the population. In 1910 the average number of persons living together as one family was 4.5. Counting the dairy cows on farms and those not on farms, there was one dairy cow for each 4.2 persons, or a little over one cow per family. For sixty years the United States has main-

Table 2. — Population and Number of Dairy Cows on Farms AND Ranges in the United States Exclusive of Outlying

Possessions ^

Year

Population

Number of Dairy Cows

Number of Persons PER Cow

23,191,876

6,385,094

3.6

31,443,321

8,585,735

3.7

38,558,371

8,935,332

4.3

50,155,783

12,443,120

4.0

62,947,714

16,511,950

3.8

75,994,575

17,135,633

4.4

91,972,266

20,625,432

4.5

1 Twelfth Census, Vol. V, p. 704. Thirteenth Census, Vol. I, pp. 24, 1285, and Vol. V, p. 341. In addition to the above there were 973,033 dairy cows not on farms in 1900 and 1,170,338 in 1910. Most of these were kept by families in villages, Vol. V, p. 430. The census does not give the number of cows in cities for the earlier years.

tained an average of a little more than one dairy cow per family. Because meat is so expensive we are using less of it, but we are not decreasing the number of dairy cows.

5. Amounts of Dairy Products Used. The number of dairy cows just about keeps pace with population, but there have been changes in the use made of milk. The amount of condensed milk produced increased 165 per cent in the ten years 1899 to 1909.^ The amount of fresh milk used as food has increased rapidly. In New York City the amount consumed per capita has increased one-third in twenty years.

Table 3. — Butter and Cheese Produced and Consumed in THE United States, and Milk Shipped to New York City

Cheese

Milk and Cream

Shipped to New York

City 4

Year

Produced

per Capita 2

Consumed

per

Capita 3

Produced

per Capita 2

Consumed

per Capita 3

Milk per Capita

Condensed

Milk and

Cream

18.9 19.4 17.5

4.2 4.8 4.1 3.9 3.5

2.9 3.6 3.8

Quarts

100 109 133

Quarts

Approximately 288 quarts of milk per person are used per year in the farm family. In cities about 112 quarts per capita^ are consumed. It is possible that this difference has something to do with the better development of

1 Thirteenth Census, Vol. X, p. 374.

2 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin 177, p. 7.

3 Amount produced plus imports less exports as given in reports of U. S. Dept. Agr.

* Data for New York City furnished by The Milk Reporter. 5 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin 177, pp. 17, 18.

IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 5

children on farms. But the amount consumed in cities is rapidly increasing.

6. Milk Inspection. In recent years great interest has been taken in improving the milk supply. Physicians and boards of health have been agitating and inspecting. As in most worthy publicity campaigns many statements are made that are not true. The agitation has brought pressure for better milk, but at the same time the extreme statements made have led many persons to use less milk than they otherwise would. The writer believes that for every person who is injured by milk, many persons suffer from the lack of it. We need education for better care of milk on the farm, in the city, and in the home, but we also need education as to the great food value of milk so that more milk will be used. It is unfortunate when one of these interferes with the other.

Dairy inspection has done much good. It will do more good when more wisely performed. In the past it has too often been made by persons who do not understand farming or farmers. The emphasis is often placed on unessential things. An inexperienced youth with an arbitrary score card turned loose among dairy farmers usually does more harm than good. In this way unnecessary antagonism is often aroused. Recent investigations have shown that there is no relationship between the score of a dairy as shown by a score card and the quality of the milk produced.^ In a later chapter the essentials for the production of wholesome milk are discussed. The vital points are that the milker and the cow both be in good health and that the milk be kept cold and as free from dirt as possible.

7. Dairy Cattle as a Source of Meat. Since there is one dairy cow per family there is approximately one veal calf

1 New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 398.

or COW available for beef each year per family. About seventeen pounds of dressed veal per family is used annually in the United States.^ Nearly all of this is produced by dairy cows. From the comparative number of dairy cows and other cows, it appears that in addition to veal calves almost half of the beef animals slaughtered are produced by dairy cows. As population becomes more dense, we shall depend more and more on the dairyman for our meat supply. Beef from the beef breeds of animals will become too expensive for any but the wealthy, as it now is in densely populated countries. In the ten years 1900 to 1910 the number of dairy cows increased. Butter production increased 9 per cent and cheese production 7 per cent. But the number of steers and bulls decreased one-fifth.

8. Dairy Cattle in Other Countries. The British Isles have one dairy cow to eleven persons. They import large quantities of cheese and butter. France and the Netherlands have one cow to five persons. Germany has one cow to six persons. Denmark has one cow to two persons. It furnishes large quantities of butter for England. Japan and China show a striking contrast with America and Europe. Their dense population makes any kind of animal food too expensive to be used freely except by the wealthy. Instead of one cow for a family, Japan has one head of cattle for thirty-seven persons. The number of dairy cows is not reported, but this probably means that there is not more than one cow for from seventy to one hundred persons.^

As the population in the United States is becoming denser, we are unfortunately forced to use less animal food, but we

1 Assuming that the calves slaughtered on farms were as heavy as those killed in slaughter houses.

2 U. S. Dept. Agr., Yearbook, 1912, pp. 666-668. International Institute of Agriculture, Vol. V, No. 10, p. 485.

IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY J

still use far more than any other nation. For each person we now produce over twenty-five times as much human food from animals as is produced for each person in Japan. ^

9. The Dairy Cow an EflScient Machine. From a given quantity of feed the dairy cow produces more human food than does any other animal. According to Armsby's standards, the amount of feed required to grow and fatten a 1200-pound steer would, if fed to dairy cows, produce about three times as much human food.

But the dairy cow must be raised, and the growing heifer is no more efficient than the growing beef animal. Both industries require that cows and bulls be kept. Figures showing the returns from the entire beef industry are not available, but results of the entire dairy industry in one county, including the feed for the entire dairy herds and including milk and meat returned for human food, are given in Table 4, as well as the results from an entire poultry industry. As producers of protein, hens are the nearest competitors of dairy cattle, but judged on an energy basis hogs are second to cows. Both hens and hogs consume a higher class of foods so that when compared with cows they are not quite so productive as the figures would suggest.

10. Cows Effective Users of By-products. As population increases, less and less grain is fed to animals because it is all needed as human food. In Europe and other densely populated regions cows are fed less grain than in America. The dairy cow is the most efficient machine for changing grass, hay, straw, cornstalks, and the by-products from mills into human food. The cow will make a larger amount of human food out of these products than will any other

^ Calculated on the basis of animal units aside from horses. See page 218.

Table 4, — Proportion of Food Eaten by Various Classes OF Live Stock that is Returned for Human Use ^

Per Cent of Protein Returned

OF Energy

Returned

Of Total Food

Of Digestible Protein

Of Total Food

Of Digestible Food

Of Production Value of Food

41.0

48.9

31.4

40.6

Dairy herds * . .

14.7

22.9

10.0

15.1

33.8

Steer ^ . . . .

8.9

17.0

Steer ^ . . . .

6.4

11.8

4.7

6.9

14.8

16.1

20.9

7.1

8.3

14.1

Poultry flock ^

14.5

18.6

6.4

7.5

12.6

10.2

13.2

15.1

17.5

29.9

1 Values as human food from U. S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin (Revised) 28.

2 1000-pound cow giving 6000 pounds of 4 per cent milk based on Armsby's feeding standard.

' Similar cow raised to 2 years on Armsby's standard, milked 5 years, then sold as lean beef.

* Food eaten by 5191 cows, 1078 heifers, 874 calves, 158 bulls, in Delaware County, New York. Pasture assumed to be one-third of the food. Net product 24, 646,000 pounds milk, 100,000 pounds skim-milk, 260 pounds butter, and 559 cows, 235 heifers, 62 bulls, 9 calves for beef. Most of the calves were killed and thrown away at birth.

5 Steer grown to 1000 pounds in 2 years, then fattened 200 pounds in 100 days by Armsby's standard. Meat counted as fat beef.

* All food eaten by a steer that grew to 1588 pounds in 3 years, assumed to be fat beef. Ontario Agricultural College, Report, 1893, p. 122.

^ Food and product of 1 hen, average of 1803 by the writer.

8 All feed except grass for an average of 1803 hens and 60 roosters kept one year, 2713 chickens raised. Net product 204,093 eggs above those used for incubation, 1080 fowls and 1404 cockrels and pullets sold for meat, 4395 pounds, records kept by the writer.

' Hogs assumed to have eaten the same feed as 1 hen and to have made a gain of 1 pound for 5 pounds of grain.

IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 9

animal. Cows also make use of the grasses that grow on large areas of land that cannot be profitably tilled.

11. Dairying and Maintenance of Soil Fertility. From most parts of the United States large quantities of stock foods are shipped out for foreign use. In many sections roughage that is good stock food is still destroyed. The introduction of dairying helps to keep a larger part of the fertility on the farm. Many farmers who make dairying a part of their farm business consider the maintenance of soil fertility, and the use of waste products, to be as important as the direct profits from the cows.

Experiments for many years have shown that it is possible to maintain the fertility of the soil by means of chemical fertilizers, but as a matter of fact farmers who use farm manure are most likely to keep up the fertility.

Cows Help to Provide a Full Year's Work. A farm is primarily a place to work. The carpenter who works only half the year is not likely to accumulate much property, nor is the farmer who works only half the year likely to pay for a farm. A limited number of cows on the farm give employment in the morning and evening when field work cannot be done. In the North where cows are most numerous, the days are so short during much of the year that a full day's work cannot be done, unless there are chores to do. Cattle also provide work for stormy days and for cold days in winter. They also provide work that children can do before and after school.

Farm children are particularly fortunate in that they have to help their fathers in the farm work. In the cities laws are passed to prevent child labor, not because all labor is injurious but because of the conditions under which the work is done. Farm children learn much by working with their fathers. Perhaps the most important thing that they learn is to persist in necessary work even when they would rather not. While helping with the chores the children are learning and at the same time helping to increase the family income.