DAIRY FARMING. 



11 



Secretary Gilbert responded in behalf of the board, and W. B. 

 Lapham, editor of the Maine Farmer, and W. S. Gilman of the 

 Aroostook Pioneer, in behalf of the press. 



The feeding of straw to stock was the subject assigned for the 

 forenoon, and was presented by the Secretary in a familiar lecture, 

 filling the time, in which he called attention to the fact that Aroos- 

 took county is the great grain growing section of the State, and 

 that upwards of fifty thousand tons of straw Avere harvested in the 

 grain crop of the present year. In a vState where stock had to be 

 fed from the barns at least one-half of the 3'ear, it becomes neces- 

 55ar3- to utilize all fodders which can be economically used. It was 

 shown that straw contains a large amount of nutrition, and that it 

 could be so fed to stock as to secure satisfactory and profitable 

 results. 



AFTERNOON. 



DAIRY FARMING AND DAIRY COWS. 

 By A. W. Cheever, Editor of the New England Farmer. 



As a general rule, the profits to be derived from any form of in- 

 dustry will be found to correspond very closely to the amount of in- 

 telligence and skill required for the successful prosecution of such 

 industiT. The architect who plans a building, and the builder who 

 executes the plans, each gets higher pay for his labor than does the 

 man who knows merely enough about carpentering to turn an auger, 

 drive a chisel, or push his jack-plane and saw by the marks and lines 

 made by a master mechanic or overseer. The highest salaries paid 

 in this country go to men v/ho superintend the construction of rail- 

 roads, or the running of trains where a single miscalculation or a 

 careless act might involve man}' thousands, and possibly millions of 

 dollars, while the lowest paid laborer is probabl}' the man who has 

 just enough skill to wield a pick and swing a spade. This rule ap- 

 plies to agriculture no less than to any other industry. 



Before the days of the potato rot and the Colorado beetle, grow- 

 ing potatoes, it seems to me, must have represented the extreme of 

 unskilled farm labor. Any simpleton could dig a shallow hole in 

 the ground, put in a small potato, or a piece of a large one. and 

 after waiting a few months dig u^) the increase. Better culture 



