DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. 239 



all know, that stand way above the figures quoted. When we 

 take into consideration that there are plenty of cows making 

 records of 600, 700 or 800 pounds and there is one cow that 

 ■has made over 1,000 pounds of butter fat in a year; and when 

 we consider that there are many men making a good margin 

 ui dairying, we realize that there must be something in the dairy 

 business if we go about it in the right way. So far as I have been 

 able to find out, the thing that is lacking in dairying, generally 

 speaking, is business methods. I am not here to tell you that 

 you are all wrong, for you certainly are not any more wrong 

 than the general run of people in other communities, but we 

 find throughout the country a lack of application of business 

 methods. I appreciate the fact that there are a great man_y 

 things that take the farmer's time so that he cannot keep com- 

 plete farm accounts, — or at least, he thinks he cannot. Night 

 comes and he is tired, and there is just about one thing in the 

 world he can think of, and that is, how soon he can get to bed. 



I do not wish to criticize unfairly, I was brought up on the 

 farm; but there is no getting around the fact that one of the 

 things we need on the dairy farm is more systematic manage- 

 ment. And I thoroughly believe a man can well afford to take 

 a small amount of time from the day to attend to the business 

 end of the work. 



Now it seems to me there are three main ways of increasing 

 the income from dairy herds. The first is to sell the product at 

 a higher price ; the second is to buy the feed and the other sup- 

 plies more cheaply ; and the third is to give better care to better 

 cows. We will discuss these three propositions briefly. 



We all know there have been milk wars and rumors of milk 

 wars, but the price of milk has been increased very little by 

 the holdups we have had in the milk market. The price of 

 commercial feeds, also, is well nigh beyond the control of the 

 average buyer. It is true, however, that the dairyman can raise 

 more clover than he is raising; he can also raise more silage, 

 for I am convinced from what I have seen and heard since 1 

 have been here at this meeting that there can be better corn 

 raised in Maine than is being raised. 



The third proposition, however, — giving better cows better 

 care, is something that can be done. It is the most pliable, by 

 all odds, of the three propositions, and for that reason it should 



