TRANSACTIONS OF STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 117 



alfalfa and Indian corn, can be grown in abundance, and there appears 

 no limit to the amount of milk that may be produced on the vast 

 areas. These regions were formerly thought too hot to produce good 

 butter and cheese, but they are now turning out the best product simply 

 because the people are obliged to use the most modern and scientific 

 methods in order to do anything at all. The indispensable accompani- 

 ment of good butter and cheese is a proper control of temperatures. 

 The section, then, which is so hot as to make ice plants essential will, 

 other things being equal, turn out a better product than the region 

 where an ice plant is not generally considered a necessity. 



There is not an arable section in the State where dairying cannot be 

 successfully carried on. There is not a tillable section where sufficient 

 and proper feeds cannot be grown for vast numbers of cattle and other 

 domestic animals as well. Former and present success in the business 

 is leading many to enter the field for the first time and many others to 

 enlarge their herds. The success of dairying in the East leads us to 

 believe in its success here, whether entered upon as a specialty or in 

 connection with other lines of agriculture. As a side issue for growers 

 of fruit it brings increased profits, not alone from the actual milk, butter, 

 and cheese sold, but through the possession of quantities of material 

 providing the humus and fertility which are an absolute necessity in all 

 of our orchards. Much of the land now given to unprofitable grain- 

 growing could be greatly enriched and made profitable by turning it to 

 dairying. Thoughtful men are looking eagerly forward to the day 

 when our great wheat ranches may be broken up into small farms and 

 become the homes of a thrifty and industrious population who till 

 their own soil and surround themselves with the comforts of life coming 

 from well-kept herds, orchards, and vineyards. 



W T HERE IMPROVEMENT IS MOST NEEDED. 



The most striking features of California dairying which stand out 

 prominently as needing improvement are along the lines of breeding 

 and feeding the stock. Taking the State as a whole, there is far too 

 little thoughtful attention put upon these factors in successful dairy 

 husbandry, and as a consequence the returns from the herds are in no 

 wise commensurate with the number of animals kept. It must be con- 

 ceded that the rapid increase in the number of men who desire to go 

 into dairying has made it difficult to buy what cows are wanted without 

 considering quality. Importing thoroughbred or high-grade animals 

 from the East is too expensive for most farmers to indulge in, and thus 

 a cow is a cow when the dairy is established. Although these facts 

 stare us in the face, it is still very apparent that our dairy cattle are 

 not what they might have been had a careful system of breeding been 

 followed. 



