212 agriculture; OF" MAINE. 



mal in them. This may not seem as surprising when we stop to 

 think that there is only one cow to every fifteen acres of tillable 

 land now under cultivation, and as you know doubtless, a little 

 less than forty per cent of the available good farm land in this 

 State is under any kind of cultivation whatsoever. So, you see, 

 we have plenty of land. 



In some European countries where land is scarce and high 

 they keep one cow per acre. Every foot of land is under a high 

 state of cultivation. Now I do not expect to see one cow per 

 acre here in Maine but I do think you should have for a stand- 

 ard one cow to every two acres of land under cultivation. This, 

 when accomplished, would mean over one million dairy animals 

 in our State which would give us a gross income of over one 

 hundred million dollars per year. 



An important factor in dairying is good water. We have it 

 and water that is free from contaminating surroundings. 



We have, in our State, Cow Test Associations, Breeders' As- 

 sociations, Seed Improvement Associations, all doing good work 

 for the advancement of the dairy industry, and these are oppor- 

 tunities for you, Mr. Dairyman. You should be an active mem- 

 ber of these associations. 



There is one thing I believe, and that is that live stock must 

 be the foundation of the farm, and the dairy animal is going 

 to win out for the State of Maine, and not potatoes. Do not 

 think, for a minute, that I am belittling the raising of pota- 

 toes, for I am not, as you should raise them, but not at the sac- 

 rifice of the dairy animal. 



To make dairying profitable you must aim at even production. 

 Keep only profitable animals, take good care of them, see that 

 they are well housed in clean, well ventilated stables. There 

 are many other points that could be spoken of but I will not 

 mention them as they are to be taken up by others who can han- 

 dle them far better than myself. 



You have the market, the way to reach it, and possibilities for 

 the maintenance of a profitable dairy. Now, Mr. Dairyman, 

 you have an important part to perform, and that is to get out of 

 the land and cows all that there is in them, and to do this re- 

 quires study and work. I place study before work, as you 

 should study your problems, then work them out on your ozvn 

 farms, not in Wisconsin or Canada or way off somewhere else. 



