94 agricui^ture; of maine. 



so much as we should like to know, but we do know enough to 

 realize that those unseen organisms working in the soil play a 

 very important part in soil fertility. We want to keep the con- 

 ditions right for their work. When we draw a load of stable 

 manure to the field, little, if any, of the nitrogen in that manure 

 is in a form available by the plants. The changes are brought 

 about by germs working in the soil, when it is in a condition so 

 that they can do their work. The soil needs to be open and 

 friable, it needs to have the conditions right for the admission 

 of air, because the most important changes demand oxygen. So 

 texture underlies this factor of soil fertility. Again, those 

 "organisms will not do their work if the soil is acid. Stable 

 manure helps to correct the acidity. In some cases, where there 

 is much acidity, lime is necessary in order to correct it. 



I will not go into details on these points, but it seems to me, 

 as I said before, that in dairying lies one of the best specialties 

 to build up and maintain the fertility of the soil. Now what 

 does successful dairying mean? It means not only the main- 

 taining of soil fertility, but better dairy management all along 

 the line. In the first place, it means better cows. That was 

 emphasized by Prof. Beach last night. A man will invest in a 

 farm, build upon it insignificant buildings, and put into them 

 poor cows, and lose half the profit. He will perhaps fail to put 

 a good animal at the head of the herd, saving $25 on the price 

 of the animal, and this will mean half the dairy. We need to 

 keep constantly before our minds that it is the last dollar of 

 return that brings us a profit. So much of the return from 

 the best cows goes in cost! When we get above that and 

 increase a little, we begin to get a profit. 



It means better feed. How many of the cows through your 

 State are fed all that they ought to be fed? I know that the 

 cows in our region are very rarely fed all they ought to have. 

 A good feeder is the exception. Perhaps the farmer provides 

 a sufficient amount of pasture during June and July when the 

 rains are coming, but there comes a time in August, as it did 

 this year with us, when the rain stops coming and the pastures 

 begin to dry up. I doubt if ten per cent of our farmers were 

 ready for that drought, and yet it comes over and over again, 

 not every year but perhaps three out of five. The majority of 

 our farmers, when it comes, are not prepared to make up the 



