398 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



without figuring ; he has worked hard with his hands but little with 

 his lead pencil, and the dollars have come his way very reluctantly. 

 And as for the cow, the only thing she has done right well — is 

 the dairyman ; she is "doing" him beautifully. If the dairyman ever 

 gets hold of that big key there'll be "something doing" in that 

 dairy ! He will soon hand over his end of the chain to the butcher. 



But do not mistake this cow for a rare specimen of an almost 

 extinct family. On the contrary, she is very common and popular 

 on all our prairies. When it comes to remorseless stealing of the 

 bread from the mouths of the dairyman's family, her tribe may 

 well be classed with the great business sharks that prey upon the 

 people. 



The dairyman, who says that dairying doesen't pay, is ten 

 to one boarding several cows of this kind in his herd. 



The dairyman is not exactly easy in his mind. That chain is 

 heavy and tight, but he has carried it so long that he thinks that 

 burdens belong with dairying, or he lays the blame to ill luck or a 

 poor price for milk; or perchance he says he cannot afford to keep 

 good cows, forgetting that he could less afford to keep poor or 

 worthless ones. 



But see, the hands of science and the most successful dairy 

 experience have provided him a key to the situation. As soon as 

 ever he sees it — Oh, that he might see ! — he will make use of the 

 scales and Babcock test and find out what every cow on the place 

 is doing for him — or against him. Armed with that knowledge, 

 he will never follow that pious old fraud of a spendthrift cow again. 



The cow for this dairyman stands behind him. She has learn- 

 ed the knack of turning feed into milk and butter fat. She repre- 

 sents the average production of the best fourth of the dairy cows 

 (300 pounds of butter fat per year), and the dairyman should get 

 better acquainted with her. She is a better cow than he thought. 

 In fact, he has not thought enough about this cow or known how 

 many such cows are in his herd. He cannot know without using 

 the key — weighing and testing the milk of each cow for the year. 

 He would have a vastly easier time of it if he were tied to this cow, 

 and to this cow alone. And as sure as he uses the scales and test 

 and comes to know each cow's production, he, like all other dairy- 

 men who have tried it, will gradually change his herd to this kind 

 of high producers. And that will inevitably lead to more profit 

 in his business — to better education for his family, to a more com- 

 fortable home, and to the conveniences and privileges that go with 

 real prosperity. 



