252 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



With the hope that it will prove an inspiration to some youns; 

 man present with a liking for a dairy cow, I will briefly tell of how 

 a son of poor parents was permitted to remain out of school and 

 idle his time away on the streets of the little village where I make 

 my home. He is a worker by inheritance, but saw nothing that 

 he could do in our little quiet farm town, so I took him to do little 

 errands. I made a cow man of him of the first rank. I taught 

 him to appreciate the little things that influence the work of a cow. 

 I have seen him so interested in the results that he would cry when 

 his cows were down in their milk, and I have yet to see the person 

 who could get more milk from a cow. He grew in usefulness and 

 I secured a place for him where he now lives amid beautiful sur- 

 roundings. He has made some exceedingly creditable records and 

 it is rumored that he is bringing on a cow that will make the best 

 of them look well to their laurels. This young man has not had 

 the benefit of even a common school education, but has learned to 

 cater to the whims of his cows. How I would like to see a scientific 

 education combined with his ''horse sense" and his love for a cow. 

 I again refer to that feeding question, wondering if I made it clear 

 why I want to leave the big coarse stalks and the big round cob 

 out of the silage. Why I plead for the early cut clover and alfalfa 

 cured under caps and urge that it be made to grow as thick on the 

 ground as possible, that we may have the small fine stem instead 

 of the large woody stem. 



About the kind of cows with which we expect to get the best 

 results: Unlike many breeders of pure bred cattle I feel able to 

 look the proposition square in the face. I like all the special pur- 

 pose cattle — dairy and beef. For our purpose it is folly to con- 

 sider any breed of beef cattle. There are good and indifferent 

 cattle in all the pure breeds and in all our dealings with cows 1 

 urge that we consider them as individual propositions. If the 

 Ayrshire appeals most forcibly to your personal fancy you can 

 accept her with the full assurance that well selected specimens will 

 prove profitable under proper conditions and this statement will 

 apply to the other breeds. If you have a weakness for the soft 

 and pleasing colors of the Guernseys you can find a market for her 

 product that will add zest to your enthusiasm. Her milk is 

 especially high colored and she is a very economical producer. To 

 an admirer of the breed I would say that she would be second in 

 profit to no breed for his particular use. The Holsteins are enor- 

 mous producers and if you like the massive blacks and whites they 

 will do the work with possibly a trifle more indifference to condi- 



