No. 5. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 277 



turity, it would require nearly nine years to regain the numbers of 

 dairy cows that existed in Pennsylvania in 1900, and yet no provi- 

 sion for the increased population. Isn't it time that something ef- 

 fective was being done to stimulate animal husbandry in Pennsyl- 

 vania? We think so. We think the tide has turned and that there 

 are more calves being raised the past two or three years, but not 

 nearly so many as should be. We believe that not only the numbers 

 but the eflBciency of our dairy cows should be increased by more in- 

 telligent selection and raising of calves. The rapid advance in the 

 price of dairy cows, we believe, is not a calamity but a blessing in dis- 

 guise. It has the effect to stimulate the business dairyman to better 

 and more thoughtful work, to make the average man better appre- 

 ciate his cows and breed and select better stock, and it is to be hoped 

 it will; and it evidently has put many of the shiftless farmers out 

 of the dairy business. 



I will not take time to discuss market conditions, amount of sup- 

 plies, prices and the like, because I do not regard that to be the vital 

 point in the dairy business at the present time. The intelligent 

 business dairyman finds a reasonable profit in the present market 

 and the man who is shiftless and disregards all modern and advanced 

 dairy methods and sanitary requirements must do business at a loss, 

 mend his ways, or get out of business. I feel that, facing a growing 

 market, and for better and safer milk and butter to feed the rapidly 

 increasing number of mouths, the vital question to be answered, and 

 to be answered quickly, is how are we going to meet this demand? 

 How is Pennsylvania going to do her share and reap her proportion 

 of the profits of this deal? It will be met and if we do not do it, 

 some other territory will. 



There is not an agricultural section in Pennsylvania where, with 

 a little well directed intelligent effort, the amount of dairy products 

 could not be doubled in three years and redoubled more easily in the 

 following three years — and there are lots of people who are only 

 waiting for the necessary information and proper encouragement 

 to make the effort, but they do not know what they are waiting for. 

 "Animal Husbandry" is a branch of agricultural instruction that 

 has been sadly neglected amongst our Pennsylvania farmers and 

 greatly to their disadvantage and loss. For want of just this class 

 of instruction, the Pennsylvania farmers as a whole, I believe, have 

 done more destructive than constructive breeding of livestock. The 

 largest part of the livestock is managed by people who have never 

 enjoyed the opportunities for obtaining such knowledge as is now 

 obtainable and cannot avail themselves of present opportunities. 

 They are generally people who cannot benefit by class work but must 

 depend largely on object teaching — preferably at their own barns, 

 thus getting the principle and its application both at the same time. 

 It is difficult to teach a man facts through his imagination, who has 

 always been accustomed to dealing with the stubborn visible facts. 

 Now we feel that much of the future success of the dairy interest 

 of Pennsylvania depends very largely upon the better distribution 

 of knowledge pertaining to Animal Husbandry, so we urge that there 

 be more effort made through all of the many teaching channels to 

 impart a practical and appropriate knowlodtre of the better use of 

 livestock on our farms. A better understanding of the advantages 

 to be derived from the use of pure breed sires, what a pedigree and 



