No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 2i^9 



stautly improving railroad facilities for the shipment of dairy ])ro- 

 duots from remote districts malces it necessary for the eastern dairy- 

 man to compete with his western neighbor at present prices, with 

 little or no hope of relief resulting from advanced retail prices of 

 milk or butter. Hence, it is plainly necessary for us to apply the 

 same business principle as do our mercantile brethren— "Reduce 

 the cost of production." 



With the price of dairy products, the prices of feed and labor are 

 more or less -arbitrarily governed by conditions over which we do 

 not have control; the only factor left is acquirement of the cow and 

 her productivity, and w^e believe that under existing conditions 

 this is the most flexible factor in the problem, because it is, in a 

 great measure, possible for the majority of dairymen (not all), by 

 intelligent breeding, feeding and care to raise cows for less money 

 than drove cows cost, and of better quality. Is there not a lack 

 of real business methods applied in the replenishing of a dairy herd 

 and farm stock generally? Are we not too easily influenced by local 

 and temporary conditions? 



The recent demand for beef has stimulated the demand for the 

 dual purpose cow, such as the Shorthorn and Holstein grades, 

 rather than the smaller and richer breeds, quantity and fair quality 

 being the acme of perfection. 



In endeavoring to procure the dual purpose cows, we wish to en- 

 courage radical crosses, as the Jersey and Holstein or Shorthorn, 

 for a less per cent, of such crosses prove to be failures. It is much 

 safer, in selecting dual purpose cows, to obtain animals from the 

 larger breeds possessing this dairy type and by careful mating 

 and feeding develop in them the desirable characteristics for the 

 dairy. Where calves of desirable grades can be had and a portion 

 of the skimmed milk can be retained on the farm for feeding pur- 

 poses, there can be "no doubt that the rearing of such cows can be 

 made a profitable feature of the farming operations. 



The reaction following the glut in the horse market is fully upon 

 us, as can be seen by a visit to our city horse market. It is safe to 

 say that horses have advanced in prices 40 per cent, within the past 

 two years. The average horse known in trade as the "general pur- 

 pose horse," or the "delivery chunk," which is a well-built animal 

 with good legs and feet, making no pretense at style or action, was 

 seeking a market two years ago at about |75, while now he is sought 

 after at from |125 to $150 in the same market. Animals of higher 

 grades are very scarce and demand prices only limited by the ability 

 of the customer to pay. The necessity for us to raise our own 

 is so evident to all that we will not take the time of this meeting 

 to discuss it. 



