FAEMEES' INSTITUTES. 245 



fine stock on the farm : they are prepared to take a step forward in improved 

 husbandry, for then commences the husbanding of the resources of the fertility 

 of their acres. 



The question of profit on tlie farm is not absohite ; it is but comparative or 

 hypotheticah The farmer as a producer is a mannfacturer, and is perforce sub- 

 ject to the nps and downs of the market. He, 'like any other manufacturer, 

 has something of a rauge of products he may select from to produce, and his 

 success or failure may turn on what some would call small things. But he must 

 have, to secure success in these days of sharp competition, facilities for produc- 

 tion and a market for his products. Has he in this county these prime condi- 

 tions ? 



Although not ranking first as a grass producing county, it by no means ranks 

 low in this particular, and to-day, as I have said, it feeds a large stock of horses, 

 cattle, sheep, and swine. All these kinds of stock do well when properly cared 

 for. As to market facilities, it stands tinqnestioned. 



I know of no good reason Avhy dairying should not bo made profitable in this 

 county. Good cows are bred. They produce good milk, and in good quantity. 

 Good butter and cheese are made from it. There is a good market for it. 

 Milk and its products are staple articles of food in all the markets of the world. 

 Just now the question of cooperation among farmers in farming is much thought 

 of, and to some extent entered into. 



I think this whole question of dairying is one in which farmers in this county 

 could with profit cooperate. Grain is, and is likely to be, the leading production 

 of the farms in this county, because the soil is natural to that line of farming, 

 and for the further reason the impression is yet general among farmers that 

 as between the profits of a given field of good arable soil, as to stocking it or 

 cropping it, it is in favor of cropping. But to crop it continuously Avitli profit, 

 barnyard or commercial manures must be liberally applied. Hence we have this 

 conservative feeling among us, we will raise some grain and raise some grass, 

 and raise and feed some stock, and so rest our fields from the constant drain of 

 producing one or more cereal crops Avhich feed upon only a few of the elements 

 of the soil. 



What kinds of stock to keep or raise on the farm, is a question as important 

 as that of what kinds of grain. Here comes the point where we may choose what 

 we will produce or manufacture, and there is something of a range. I believe 

 it is always safe to manufacture any article that is in general use and consump- 

 tive demand, if one's facilities are such as to enable him to furnish it equal in 

 quality, and as cheaply as any one else. What one would like to do, and what 

 he had better do, are questions of prime importance for him to settle at the out- 

 set, especially if his likes are for a business his locality puts him at a disadvan- 

 tage Avith his competitors. 



Sheep are stock I like to keep. They are peaceable and need less care than 

 cows. Their wool and meat are articles of general consumption, and will con- 

 tinue in increasing demand. Why not follow your likes, then? Because, taking- 

 things as they stand to-day, the southwestern portion of the United States, Mex- 

 ico, South America, Australia, and Africa are producing wool cheaper than I 

 can produce it. The keep of their sheep is nominally the cost of a few men to 

 watch and protect thousands of sheep in a flock. Those sections support no 

 schools, build no churches, and pay light or no taxes. If wheat at two to three 

 cents a pound in market seeks that market at a profit, grown thousands of 



