69S BOAlvD OF AGRICULTURE. 



better care and better food have to do with the question, there yet remains 

 a vei-y wide margin tliat can only be credited to the functional capacity 

 of the cows bred In the bone. When farmers began to select their bulls 

 from pure bred herds possessing these great dairy values, letting the beef 

 question and all side issues take care of themselves, they began to es- 

 tablish improved machinery in the shape of dairy cows. Nearly 12,000,- 

 000 cows are devoted to buttermaking in the United States, and the 

 product in round numbers is 3,500,000,000 pounds of butter, worth, at 18 

 cents a pound, $270,000,000. Suppose that each of these cows could pro- 

 duce a heifer calf by a high class Jersey bull, and the improvement in 

 butter capacity for the new generation were even as little as 5 per cent., 

 which would be an exceedingly small estimate, the increased butter out- 

 put for a single year, assuming that the price was not lowered, would be 

 worth $13,500,000, a net profit over present income due solely to the use 

 of improved cow machinery.' This improved cow machinery referred to 

 by Hark Comstock is due to the patient and intelligent efforts of a com- 

 paratively few breeders, who have developed individuals and families of 

 great productive capacity, whereby the mass of breeders may improve 

 their herds. It is due to the work of such men that the improvement of 

 Rockdale herd has been possible in so short a time. To them American 

 stockmen owe a deep debt of gratitude. If our herds are not productive 

 and profitable, it is due to neglecting the opportunities provided through 

 the agricultural college, the experiment station, dairy and live stock lit- 

 erature and the help of intelligent breeders. These all point the way 

 toward success." 



In drawing this narrative to a close, it is unnecessary to concern our- 

 selves regarding the identity of the subject of the sketch. He still lives 

 on Rockdale Farm in fair Ncav England, where he continues to work 

 among the herd he loves so well, for his is a labor of love, not of suffer 

 ance. He has been an unconscious instrument on his part in uplifting the 

 agricultural dignity of his community and State, while he stands as a 

 strong example of what a man may do to demonstrate the usefulness of 

 the modern agricultural education. You may not know him personally, 

 but as the years go by you may discover his counterpart here and there 

 when perhaps least expected. If, when in future, you chance upon a 

 strong herd of daily cows that appears to you much what Rockdale herd 

 is at the completion of this narrative, if you will (race \ip its history, I 

 am sure you will learn some valuable lessons, even if it does not prove 

 the proi^erty of Winslow & Son. 



President Johnson: We have two other subjects, so we will hurry 

 tlu-ough. 



