82 THIRTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



People tell us who have visited it, that in Mammoth Cave there 

 are fishes that have lived in darkness so long that they have no eyes. 



Here is all this good light shining about us on the question of better, 

 more intelligent farming. Light that shows in a clear, simple way 

 the difference in loss and profit to ourselves, between doing things in a 

 wrong way and the right way. 



The various "Cow Censuses" which have shone in the columns of 

 Hoard's "Dairyman," they throw good light. How strong the con- 

 trast in the Fond du Lac, Wis., census between one creamery patron, 

 No. 4, and No. 17. No. 4 made a profit of $29.18 per cow over and 

 above the cost of feed. No. 17, living right alongside of No. 4, taking 

 his milk to the same creamery, did his work so blindly that he lost 

 $10.17 per cow. No. 4 received from the creamery $29.18 more than 

 the feed cost per cow; No. 17 received $10.17 less per cow than the 

 feed cost. In that cow census out of 48 farmers taking milk to that 

 creamery, 10 of them — -almost one-fourth — absolutely received less 

 money from the creamery than the feed cost. In addition to the 48 

 there was taken a census of 12 cheese factory patrons, and the result 

 was still worse, for out of the 12, four lost money, or 33 per cent, were 

 losers. 



What is the matter of these men? 



If you study them and the way they live, you will see at once. They 

 do not use their brains. They do not read or study enough on this 

 business of keeping cows. Take the measure of their minds and you 

 will take the measure of their profit. I tell you it has a wonderful 

 sight to do with a farmer's profit whether he reads concerning his 

 business or not. Here are some hard facts to prove it: 



W. H. Jenkins took a census in 1901 of 50 farmers who were patrons 

 of the creamery in Montrose, Pa. Twenty-five of them read dairy pa- 

 pers; twenty-five did not. The twenty-five who did read dairy papers 

 averaged $50.23 per cow for the year. The twenty-five who did not read 

 averaged $32.95. Here is a difference of $17.28 per cow. Did it pay the 

 twenty-five to read? Did it pay the other twenty-five not to read? 

 That's not all. Those who did read averaged a profit over cost of food 

 of $15.06 per cow. Those who did not read averaged a profit of 6Q 

 cents. These are hard facts worth thinking over. 



Here is another: Mr. Jenkins took another census of 45 patrons 

 of the Onondaga County (N. Y.) Milk Association. The tabular state- 

 ment was printed in Hoard's Dairyman of February 27th. Here were 

 45 farmers taking their milk to the Association where the weight of 

 milk and cash records were kept. What is the record of these men? 

 Thirty-one read agricultural and dairy papers. They averaged a profit 

 of $1.35 for every dollar they spent in feed. Fourteen of these patrons 

 did not read either agricultural or dairy papers. Where a farmer 

 does not read such papers, you will also find as a rule, that he does not 

 read books devoted to his business. These fourteen averaged $1.20 for 

 every dollar spent in feed, or 15 cents loss on every dollar. Now, the 



