390 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



extra help on the farm, extra care of the cream during a season 

 when every precaution is necessary in order to produce a com- 

 mercial product, and it means that this business or the business of 

 general farming in many cases must be neglected. 



To make our industry of the importance which seems possible, 

 a great many changes are necessary. First of all, there must be 

 some plan devised on each farm whereby the product of each cow 

 will be weighed and tested and credited to her. Against this 

 must appear feed, care and other incidental expense, so that at the 

 end of a year, or possibly a less time, the farmer will know what 

 animals in his herd are profitable and those that are unprofitable; 

 not forgetting, of course, to take into consideration the various 

 by-products which make up a considerable portion of the revenue. 

 It seems to have been possible for the average man to go along and 

 run his farm and milk his cows, regardless of whether the business 

 is profitable or not, but it occurs to me that with the increased price 

 of help and the increased price of land, the man who engages in 

 a business of such importance as the dairy business must know 

 something about the work that he is doing. He must provide some 

 system of feeding whereby the cost is greatly lessened. He must 

 provide warm and comfortable quarters, especially during the 

 winter time, so that his cows can produce the maximum amount of 

 milk. We are too apt to feel satisfied with our check at the end 

 of the week or at the end of the month, and we do not take the 

 necessary steps to find out what it has cost us to get that check. 



In estimating the value of the business, little account is taken 

 of many things which are directly traceable to the industry. For 

 instance, when we raise corn or wheat the depreciation on the 

 land averages from 5 to 10 per cent per year, and it is only a ques- 

 tion of time until all the fertility is gone if we keep on growing 

 wheat or corn. When we dairy we enrich the land from year to 

 year and increase our wealth in many ways. A fact that has been 

 repeated many times — that a ton of butter, now worth about $700, 

 can be produced at an expense of 50 cents to the soil — is something 

 of vital importance. Had the people in the northeastern part of 

 the United States known this fact and applied it in a practical way, 

 it would not be possible at the present time to buy farms well 

 improved for less money than the improvements cost. They would 

 still have farms that were productive, and they could still make 

 a living without having to sell these farms and move on farther 

 west and continue to deplete the fertility of the land they cultivate. 



