3-J AGRICULTURE OF MAlNt;. 



Mr. i;. i-. i witchell, Official Tester of W aterville Dairy Im- 

 provement Association, having a great <lesire to get together 

 the Official Tester? of all the associations twice each year to 

 talk over and discuss the working of each association, a meeting 

 was called by the Dairy Instructor at the Agricultural Rooms^ 

 State House. Augusta. June loth, 1911, and there was formed 

 the Maine Co-operative Association of Dairy Testers with the 

 following officers elected : 



President. B. F. Twitchell, \\'atervi]le. 

 \'ice President. Paul J. Fuller. Dexter. 

 Secretary-Treasurer, Harry M. Look. K. W'aterford. 



This getting the testers together in June an I again in Octo- 

 ber, wlien the dairymen are changing from winter to summer 

 feed and again from summer to winter, gives these young men 

 a chance to stu;ly conditions and impart to each other statistics 

 gleaned from their associations. 



A few days was spent in Aroostook County as there is a 

 Jersey Breeders' Association located there. Your representa- 

 tive attended the June meeting and a great deal of interest was 

 manifested tow^ard a dairy testing association in that county 

 and in a radius of about forty miles three hundred twenty-seven 

 cows were pledged for an association. 



There is material in different sections of the State for quite- 

 a number of dairy associations, but there are not the young- 

 men with the ability that is recjuire<; of them to handle such 

 work, at the wages that liave been paid, to act in the capacity ot 

 Official Tester. 



After studying the problems tliat are confronting the dairy- 

 men, viz., high cost of mill feeds and -scarcity of competent 

 hired help, I do not think that any tlairyman can afford not to 

 belong to a dairy testing association as I know of no other way 

 for a dairyman to study the production of the dairy cow more 

 economically than through the channels of «uch an association. 

 To show the value of such associations I quote a few statements 

 made at meetings by members of different associations. 



"It I hafl known as much about feeling cows ten years agO' 

 as I have learned while a member of the association for the 

 period of one year, I might have saved 1 housands of Dollars' 



"By weeding out a few unprofitable cows and purchasing 

 better ones. I have realized $(>oo more from j)ractically the 



