130 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



blood, and the Ayrshire, Devon and Holstein have got mixed, 

 and the)' have got mixed too much, but the Jersev blood predom- 

 inates in ]\Iaine. You see we have had three periods. There have 

 been three changes in the races of cattle in this country within 

 its settlement. Xow we have got to go on and do the best we 

 can. We have these breeds of cattle, — some are breeding Jer- 

 seys, some Holsteins, and some Ayrshires. They are all good 

 breeds and are all right in their proper places, but if we breed 

 them we must start right. I am not going to say one word 

 against what has been said here in breeding, but I want to 

 emphasize one point. If you build a house you want to put it on 

 a good foundation, or in time it will fall down. If you are going 

 to build up a herd of cattle you want to start them on a good 

 foundation. You want no guess work about it. It would not 

 be safe for us to go to Wisconsin and buy a pair of Holsteins 

 and try to raise up a herd and not find out whether they were 

 sound or not before we started. Because possibly in the end we 

 might find that the}' were wrong when we started and the enter- 

 prise would be a failure. To breed up a dairy herd, first start 

 with a sound, solid foundation, and then go on with the instruc- 

 tions Brother Pember and Brother Gowell have driven vou. 



o 



W^ednesday evening, December 5th, the Fifth Annual Banquet 

 of the Maine Dairymen's Association was held in Drummond 

 Hall. A large number of the dairymen and citizens of Farming- 

 ton were present, and a very pleasant social evening was enjoyed. 



The responses to toasts, by some of the prominent dairy work- 

 ers and business men of Farmington were exceedingly brilliant 

 and entertaining, and the music by Wheeler's orchestra, the solos 

 by ]\Iiss Starbird of Farmington and the songs by the students 

 of the University of Maine, were much enjoyed. The recitations 

 given by Mr. Morse, the humorous reader of South Paris, also 

 added much to the pleasure of the evening. 



THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6. 

 A business meeting of the Maine Dairymen's Association was 

 held Thursday morning at 8.30, opened by the president, F. S. 

 Adams of Bowdoin. The report of the secretary was read and 

 approved. The treasurer then presented the following report, 

 which was accepted by the association : 



