Vermont Dairymen's Associatioi^. 91 



It has been said by good authority that not every man can 

 be a poet, any more than a sheep can be a goet. 



Hence it follows that not every man can do justice to the 

 subject that has been assigned him. 



I have been asked to say something about the Private Dairy 

 and the marketing of its products. We know the Creamery 

 has done a good work during the past few years in bringing up 

 the standard of quite a large per cent, of butter made in the 

 State. Many farmers who formerly kept only a few cows, and 

 poorly at that, and had so little cream and kept it so long, that 

 when churned the result was an article so strong that a little 

 went a long way, but brought a low price, have with the help of 

 the Creamery, kept more and better cows, and realized a fair 

 profit from them. For these farmers, the Creamery has been a 

 great benefit. But many dairymen are so situated that it is not 

 convenient to patronize the Creamery, and in many cases this 

 is no misfortune. The time spent, or money paid for carrying 

 the milk or cream to the Creamery, can very profitably be used 

 in making our own butter. 



Good cows are necessary to make a private dairy success- 

 ful, and only such should be kept. A cow that will not pay 

 for her feed and a fair margin beside, better be sent to the 

 shambles, even if she looks well, and is well bred, but right 

 here I would like to say that barring accidents, there are not 

 many well bred cows that are a failure, but when one does turn 

 up, sell her for beef, but don't let her go to anyone who wants 

 her for a cow. You can't afford to do that, if there were no 

 other reason. Great pains should be taken to get the best sire 

 possible — one from a long line of good stock on both sides. 

 Even if a liberal price has to be paid, he is worth it to the man 

 who raises his own cows, as most farfners do. The surplus has 

 to be disposed of and the standard must be kept up if one ex- 

 f»ects good prices for their stock. 



Our farm is large, and we do not care to milk all the stock 

 it will carry. It is our custom to raise our heifers, usually about 

 twenty each year, and sell the cows when fresh in milk, and at 

 an age when they bring the most. In this way our dairy is kept 

 young and thrifty. Occasionally a pet cow is kept as long as 

 she will breed, as her stock may be very valuable, but as a rule, 

 we find it better not to have many old cows in our herd. 



Most men know what to feed their stock, and I will not pre- 

 tend to advise them. We fill two large silos, with as good 

 corn as we can raise, and don't pick the ears. The Sanford we 

 find best for our use, as it has a large growth and nearly every 

 stalk has two ears. The big frosts of Sept. 22 and 23 hit us hard, 

 but we think the ensilage as good as we ever had. Without the 



