48 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



you must have a feed which will reduce the bulk of the ration to 

 a point where the cow can consume it in sufficient quantities, and 

 to do that you must have something in the way of grain. And 

 it is economy for the dairy farmer to devote his farm chiefly to 

 the production of these two crops and go into the market and 

 buy his concentrated feeds. Some one will say, 'There is Jones 

 who is doing just as you say, going into the market and buying 

 grain all the time, and the result is that when he gets his cream- 

 ery check at the end of the month all he has to do is to endorse it 

 over to the grain dealer. The grain dealer gets it all." I 

 haven't the slightest doubt but there are just such cases. I do 

 not stand here to advocate the reckless, indiscriminate purchase 

 of grains to be fed to cows that will not pay for them. But while 

 there are such instances, I will undertake to say that if you will 

 show me the dairy farmer in ]\Iaine or Vermont who is making 

 the largest net profit from his cows, I will show you a man who 

 is spending a considerable amount for the purchase of grain 

 feeds- A few years ago a cow census was taken in a certain 

 town in New York, one of the best dairy towns in the world. As 

 the result of that census it was found that the dairyman in that 

 town who was making the largest net profit from his herd was 

 the man who was purchasing the largest amount of mill feed per 

 head for his cows. It simply means that this man was buying 

 on a business basis, he knew what he was doing when he paid 

 out his dollars for this feed, he knew what his cows would return 

 him for it, while the other man was buying because he had heard 

 somebody say it was the proper thing to do. One man knew his 

 business, the other did not. 



Now, what kinds of feed shall we buy? Shall we buy corn? 

 I like to talk about the corn plant. I like to urge upon the 

 farmers of New England the raising of that corn plant. I like 

 to point out to them that they are perfectly able today to com- 

 pete with the farmers of the West in the production of corn. I 

 wish I had taken the time before I came down here to look up the 

 statistics a little. I would not be surprised if the State of Maine 

 today is producing more corn per acre than the state of Illinois, 

 or Kansas, or any other state of the \A'est. I would say, do not 

 buy com, first, because you can raise it, and second, because it 

 is not what you need to make your ration complete. When a 

 man goes into the market to buy, he does not buy something with 



