120 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE). 



I talked with some of the farmers in that association, and heard 

 them express their opinions upon the benefit it had been to them 

 and the results ; the stimulus that had come from the visits of 

 that man to those farms every month, the stimulus of the 

 monthly meetings and the presence at these meetings of men 

 from the department. I was very much interested in the results 

 that have come in the way of breeding. Do you know, what 

 appeals to me as of the most value in the cow testing associa- 

 tions is that having the ideal before you, you are breeding for 

 the future, building up for the future. Every member of the 

 association has impressed upon him, forced home to him, the 

 importance of breeding. We get no permanent benefit if the 

 association is to be organized simply for each man to find out 

 what unprofitable cows he has and sell them to his neighbors. 

 But it means increasing the value and increasing the production 

 permanently; building up the herd. That is what appeals to 

 me, — getting something of permanent good from the associa- 

 tions. I have been asked time and time again. What becomes 

 of these cows? It is natural for a man to sell them. If a man 

 has a poor cow which is running him in debt, and he knows it, 

 he will sell it. I was much interested in examining the report 

 published by the department in Michigan. I noticed there was 

 scarcely a herd that did not show one or more cows kept at a 

 loss, and what pleased me more than anything else was the fact 

 that in scarcely an instance did the owner keep that cow until 

 the end of the testing period. That was conclusive to me that 

 he was not aware that he was keeping the cow at a loss. As 

 soon as he became aware of it he sold her. You men go out 

 here and see an orchard, see the trees when they are grown up, 

 and get your ideal of what an orchard should be. That is the 

 principle we want to apply in breeding. We want to have an 

 ideal and be building to it all the time. Now, in my own 

 opinion every man must settle this thing for himself, but it seems 

 to me that a man can do this work by associating with his neigh- 

 bors in a more economical manner than he can do it by himself. 

 I want to say that the Department of Agriculture are vitally 

 interested in this matter. We believe it is one of the best things 

 for the dairymen of this State that we can work upon, and we 

 mean to devote our energies to the organization of these asso- 

 ciations so far as we can, firmly believing that it will mean the 

 introduction of a new era for dairying in this State. 



