Vermont Dairymen's Association. 79 



little one a good start in the opinion of his fellow men. And this 

 same principle you may apply to the rearing of our cattle ; be- 

 cause we should go back into ancestry and study up the charac- 

 teristics of the animal that we wish to perpetuate. In the first 

 place, let us give this dairy business more thought than we usually 

 do. Let us ask ourselves what branch we wish to follow, because 

 there are several lines in dairying. Don't think because 3'ou have 

 a bunch of cows that you are a dairyman, because if you 

 haven't an animal suited to the purpose of the line you wish to 

 follow, you are not strictly up to date, and you are not making 

 the most profit from your herd. If you were to plough a field, 

 would you go to the machine shop and say to the proprietor, "I 

 am going to do some farming and I think I will plough a field ; 

 I would like a piece of machmery." Is that what you would ask 

 for? The man would say "I haven't a plough right around 

 handy, but I have a rake, you can scratch the ground up a bit 

 with a rake." Yes, you could scratch the ground up, but you 

 couldn't turn a good furrow. Get a line of cattle and a breed of 

 cattle that is adapted to the branch of work you wish to follow. 

 Now, if you are going to produce a large quantity of milk, per- 

 haps sell it for so much a quart, we have a breed perfectly adapt- 

 ed for that purpose. If you wish to produce the finest butter 

 and cream in the world, we have a couple of breeds adapted to 

 that purpose, and it won't be necessary to pasteurize the cream 

 either to make a first-class article of butter. If you on the other 

 hand wish to make the very finest flavored cheese in the world, 

 we also have a breed adapted for that purpose. Now, find out 

 what you wish to do and then get your cattle with that in view. 

 If you wish to produce a large flow of milk, you have nothing 

 better than the Holstein. They will serve your purpose well and 

 faithfully. If on the other hand, you would make the finest 

 quality of butter and cream, I can safely recommend the Jersey 

 and Guernsey ; there you have two breeds to select from. But 

 if your ambition is to make the finest flavored cheese in the world, 

 then pin your faith to the Ayrshire and she will not disappoint 

 you. 



Now, when you have decided what line you wish to follow 

 — perhaps some of you will think, "Oh, she is going to advise 

 us all to go into the butter business and to get Jerseys and put 

 away our common stock." I don't know if you have any com- 

 mon stock ; I have seen some pretty good stock here in Vermont ; 

 but if you are like the Wisconsin farmer, some of you have com- 

 mon stock. "Yes, she is going to tell us to do that and tell us 

 to get pure bred stock." I am not going to tell you anything of 

 the kind, because I haven't quite faith enough in the American 

 dairyman to trust fancy bred stock to him unless he understands 



