REPORT OF STATE DAIRY INSTRUCTOR. 193 



opportunity for profit in the raising of high grade and pure 

 bred animals, should not all persons having the dairy and live 

 stock interests of Maine at heart, unite in teaching and urging 

 our farmers : 



1. That only pure bred registered sires be used. 



2. That all farmers in one community unite on one breed. 



3. That the work begin at once, grading up the herd until in 

 form, quality, productiveness and profit the cov^s equal thor- 

 oughbreds. 



4. That ov^ners of small herds combine and jointly purchase 

 a purebred bull and after a few years exchange with others, thus 

 not allowing a sire of merit to pass from the community. 



GENERAL. 



Mr. S. C. Thompson who had been in the employ of the 

 Department as Assistant Dairy Instructor during the latter part 

 of 1907 still continued to act in that capacity during the first 

 two months of 1908, when he left for Washington to accept a 

 position with the Dairy Division of the Department of Agri- 

 culture and as there existed no surplus in the appropriations for 

 dairy interests, it has not been possible to secure any assistant 

 in his place. 



While the decrease in the number of cows owned in the State 

 during the year 1908 is a most discouraging fact to face, there 

 are some conditions connected with this situation that are very 

 encouraging. The very severe drouth during the summer and 

 the consequent shortage in the amount of roughage harvested 

 undoubtedly caused the sale of a large number of cows, but if 

 this sale included principally, as I believe it did, the poor cows 

 in the herds, then we cannot regard their sale with much regret. 



A large number of our dairymen, far too many in fact, are 

 following the practice of buying their cows instead of rearing 

 them and there can be no question but that this condition is 

 responsible in considerable measure for the decrease in the 

 number of cows in the State. 



It is a most unhealthy condition and every effort should be 

 made to awaken a full understanding of the certain and evil 

 results coming from such a practice. 



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