DAIRY MEETING. 169 



being divided into classes ; it mentioned the civilized, the half 

 civilized and the savage. It is not so very long ago, in com- 

 parison with time, when our ancestors were savages in the 

 British Isles. Through certain moral influences, the churches, 

 the schools, and other influences, we have been evolving and 

 evolving until we have the intelligence and the civilization that 

 are found in the State of Maine today. But let these moral 

 forces cease for a time, and what would be the result? It 

 would not be a great many years before we should be classed 

 with the half civilized or the savage. It is a law of nature that 

 man and animals deteriorate faster than they progress if the 

 conditions are not favorable. To illustrate this point I want 

 to refer to a story I read a short time ago, "The Call of the 

 Wild." It represents a highly civilized dog, a Saint Bernard, 

 who was owned by a rich man in the West, one of the most faith- 

 ful and trusty dogs, noted all through that section for his faith- 

 fulness. But occasionally this dog felt the "call of the wild" in 

 him. It happened after a while that he was stolen and carried 

 into Alaska, there to transport mail across the frozen plains. He 

 got into bad company, and had to steal or die. The call of the 

 wild grew stronger and he commenced to deteriorate and he 

 became the most successful thief in the dog team. As time went 

 on and conditions became more unfavorable, he became virtually 

 a wild wolf and joined himself to a pack of wolves. 



One difficulty we have to contend with is the tendency of 

 our stock to go back to the first condition, I will call it the 

 "call of the wild." The important points to be considered are 

 the surroundings, the feed and the breed. We are not going 

 to try in our lifetime to make a different dairy breed. If we 

 aie starting out to breed dairy stock, I have found that it is 

 wise to get the best foundation stock possible. See that they 

 come from producing ancestors on both sides. Then you have 

 good blood to start with ; then give them favorable conditions. 

 We hear a great deal today about the Jersey cow in the State 

 of Maine deteriorating. I have heard successful farmers and 

 successful breeders say that the conditions were such in the 

 State of Maine that the Jersey cow would deteriorate, you could 

 not hold her up to the standard. A gentleman since this meet- 

 ing commenced has told me that years ago he could go out and 

 buv better Tersev cows than he can now. There must be a 



