26 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



of work and it takes more intelligence to be a successful dairy- 

 man than in almost any other branch of farming. All over the 

 state there are dairymen who are making a good profit and 

 others who are just losing because they are not efficient m 

 their work. This class is saying that dairying does not pay and 

 that prices should be higher. In other words, they want the 

 price so high that they can make a profit with inefficient, man- 

 agement. That would be paying a premium on inefficiency that 

 is contrary to all laws of trade or business. The price of any 

 product for a series of years will be what that product can oe 

 produced for under business methods. Competition will regu- 

 late that and the man in dairying, or any other business, that is 

 not complying with right and efficient methods along all lines 

 had better get out or get right. 



The number of dairy farmers in Maine who are keeping 

 records of production and cost of production is ver>^ materially 

 increasing. That, with the high price that cows are selling 

 for, will account for the slight decrease in number of cows. 

 The dairymen are weeding out their poor cows. The marked 

 increase in young stock is very gratifying. There is an increas- 

 ing demand for pure bred bulls in the dairy sections. 



I notice there is a movement by the Chamber of Commerce 

 in Waterville to work out some plan whereby the farmer can 

 hire money to purchase pure bred bulls. I think it would be a 

 good idea to get the breeders in Maine who are raising pure 

 bred stock for sale to cooperate in this matter. We have a 

 live stock breeders' association in Maine and if we could have 

 a meeting of farmers with these different organizations, I 

 think that something could be worked out satisfactorily. 



Respectfully submitted, 



F. S. ADAMS, 



State Dairv Instructor. 



