284 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



A breeder chose a cow that would produce a larger amount 

 of milk than any oither cow, and if be had a bull whose off- 

 spring was producing more milk than any others, he bred those 

 two together, and he went liigiher and higher, until we got what 

 •we have today. The Jersey and the Guernsey cows came from 

 the Jersey and Guernsey Islands in t!he English Channel. For 

 500 years those people had a law prohibiting the importation of 

 any other animals but the Jersey and tJie Guernsey, and they 

 bred along these lines for a long time, until today we have 

 Jersey cows which give about 20,000 pounds of milk and over 

 1. 100 pounds of butter a year. We got them by breeding. 



Now take the horseman wlho breeds draft horses, ana what 

 kind of a horse does he want? He wants a horse with short 

 joints and tremendous pulling strength, and he breeds horses 

 along that line. The race horseman wants the long jointed 

 horse, wlho can throw himself a tremendous distance and do 

 it quickly, and he breeds along that line, until we have today 

 a horse that can do a mile in two minutes. They have done 

 this by breeding. 



I understand that you people have been working along the 

 line of breeding potatoes. The same process of development 

 applies to corn. I am a practical farmer, and I breed corn, 

 and I am not going to use any scientific terms this morning 

 in discussing this question. I am going to use plain words in 

 telling my exiperience. Some fellows have a way of getting up 

 in meeting and telling tlheir experience, even if it is not always 

 so. An experience meeting is all right once in a while. 



What is a dairy cow ? Why we have made her a milk factory 

 by breeding. And w^hat is a cornstalk? A cornstalk is a corn 

 factory. We want it to produce the largest possible amount of 

 corn that can be grown under our soil and climatic conditions 

 and under our management. It is very important that point be 

 considered. In order to do this, we must take our observations 

 in the cornfield ; no better place in the world to study corn. Go 

 out and study it there, and see what Nature can actually do 

 under your conditions. We study that cornstalk in the corn- 

 field. We want the stalk that will produce and ripen, within 

 our season, the largest amount of corn. This is the problem 

 we wish to solve. How long a season have you? 



Answer. One man says, "100 days," another, "90 days is 

 better." 



