DAIRY MBE;TING. 215 



alike as outward conditions could possibly make them, we may 

 vary the feed and obtain the best results. And the only way to 

 know what these results are is to go right back to the teachings 

 that have been presented by evei;y practical speaker and every 

 scientific speaker that has appeared before this meeting, that we 

 must use the same business principles with the cow that every 

 other business man uses in his business, — know what we feed 

 her, what it costs and what she produces. By using these busi- 

 ness principles we are enabled from day to day to obtain the best 

 results. This means much. It means that the average dairy- 

 man, when he changes in his barns, as we all do who are living 

 on these New England farms, from one kind of hay to another, 

 must change the grain or whatever else he is feeding that cow, 

 to make her produce the most at the least expense ; that we must 

 not change too hastily from one to the other. When we change 

 from silage to dry feed we must be a little careful and when 

 we change to silage we must be a little careful, to keep that 

 cow .in the best condition. We must study the individuality of 

 the cow. We must use common sense and never subject her to 

 any sudden change that will throw her system out of balance, 

 for it is too delicately adjusted to conform to sudden changes. 

 It is astonishing to note what a difference even a thunder shower 

 coming up in the afternoon will make in the amount of milk 

 which the cow will give at night. It has astonished us many 

 times to find, when a cold windy day would come, that many of 

 our cows had fallen ofif one or two pounds on account of the 

 sudden change of temperature. We dairymen who have been 

 through a winter or two such as this winter promises to be when 

 the cows have to drink under different conditions from what 

 they are accustomed to, know how it curtails our business. Four 

 years ago this winter I was obliged to drive my cows half a mile 

 through December to give them water. They had never stepped 

 on the snow before, and it made a difference of over $60 in 

 the product of those cows for thirty days. These things show 

 conclusively that only by individual attention, only by a thor- 

 ough knowledge of their wants and supplying those wants in the 

 minutest detail are we able to obtain the best results. There- 

 fore the feeding is something that requires attention each day, 

 and twice or three times a day, as our rule may be. It goes 

 without saying that there is no part of our work which is of such 



