HOW CAN WE COMPETE WITH THE WEST IN DAIRYING. 47 



with half his herd than formerly when the barn was full. Some 

 years ago the dairyman of the Vermont Experiment Station 

 left us to become dairyman on the Long Island estate of Mr. 

 W. K. Vanderbilt. Soon after entering upon his new employ 

 he wrote me as follows : " The Babcock test has killed a dozen 

 of our cows. Mr. Vanderbilt says he cannot afford to keep 

 cows which do not pay their way." If we may judge by the 

 actions of many of our dairymen not only in New England but . 

 the world over, (and we must remember that actions speak 

 louder than words,) if, I say, we may judge by their actions, 

 there are thousands of dairymen who can afford to keep cows 

 which W. K. Vanderbilt is unable to keep. The very first step 

 which should be taken by every dairyman whose average produc- 

 tion per cow is under 200 pounds, is to grade up his herd by 

 purchase or by breeding, or both, as seems most expedient. The 

 purchase of a good bull is usually the first move, followed by 

 good care and judicious feeding of such cows as are worthy of 

 it. May I not suggest here, moreover, that the raising of a 

 larger proportion of the calves now slaughtered would be in the 

 direction of wisdom. Recent statistics taken by the State Board 

 of Agriculture show a marked decrease in the number of dairy 

 cows in Vermont. This decrease is brought about more particu- 

 larly because of large sales to Massachusetts and the failure of 

 farmers to raise their own stock. If more of our dairymen would 

 make use of the Babcock test determine the dairy abilities of 

 their individual animals and would raise calves from such cows 

 as prove to be the most successful milkers, it would go far 

 towards elevating the standard of excellence in their herds. 



The class of cows and their adaptation to the particular 

 kind of dairying in view is of importance. I do not desire, 

 however, to enter into the quarrel of the breeds, but am simply 

 suggesting the wisdom of looking into this matter and the folly, 

 as Gov. Hoard aptly puts it, of hunting for birds with a fox 

 hound or for butter with a beef animal. 



The matter of dairy apparatus and appliances merits careful 

 study. The market for all classes of dairy goods becomes 

 yearly more critical and margins of profit grew continually more 

 narrow, particularly if modern apparatus and methods are not 

 used to meet these demands. Mill owners throw aside machin- 

 ery which cost tens of thousands of dollars, machinery but lit- 

 tle worn, and replace it with other apparatus perhaps yet 

 more costly, which in its turn in a few years, with its value 

 hardly impaired by use, is cast aside for yet another lot of 

 machines. Why ? To save a fraction of a cent in the cost of 

 making a yard of cloth, to lessen the expense of labor, to reduce 

 power bills — in short to economize in manufacture. Similarly 

 the wasteful shallowpan or deep setting creamer of earlier days 



