376 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



anywhere. The kindergarten methods so convincing to children are ap- 

 plicable to men, as 



"Men are only boys grown tall, 

 Hearts don't change much after all." 



I hope the time is not far distant when we will have demonstrating 

 farms in various parts of the State connected with the State Colleges, 

 where the public may be educated in farming by observing the practical 

 demonstrations. The more useful these educational institutions become 

 to the public as a whole the more thoroughly they will be fulfilling the 

 purpose for which they were intended. 



We have in a country a great many men who are giving practical 

 demonstrations in farming to the community in which they reside, owing 

 to the excellent manner in which they carry on their occupation. As an 

 example, I will cite Ex. Gov. W. D. Hoard of Wisconsin. I had the pleas- 

 ure of visiting his farm twice during the past season. I am satisfied that 

 it would pay most any dairy farmer in this country to go there and in- 

 vestigate conditions on that farm. They will find a practical demonstra- 

 tion of what is possible on a well regulated dairy farm. 



The Governor has 190 acres of land. When he bought this farm it 

 was somewhat impoverished from excessive grain growing. By intelli- 

 gent methods he has made it one of the most productive farms in Wis- 

 consin. I have never seen better crops of alfalfa grown in any part of 

 the country than I saw there last summer. 



He has a barn that any good farmer might build. It is one of the 

 most perfectly ventilated barns that I have ever Inspected. The "King" 

 system of ventilation is used. The second time I visited his farm, the 

 crops of alfalfa were stored in the barn. The alfalfa hay was cured in 

 such a manner that it retained all the fine leaves and had the sweet 

 clean odor of freshly cut hay. In this barn he usually keeps a herd of 

 40 Guernsey cows — a beautiful sight to behold. Twenty-two of them I 

 have been told had an average of 446.43 pounds of butter-fat per cow, or 

 510 pounds of butter. His buildings, his cows, and his farm are as far 

 ahead of the ordinary dairy farm as a Pullman car is ahead of the ordi- 

 nary day coach. Some one asked me recently if the Governor made this 

 farm pay. I received a letter from him recently concerning this question 

 which I will read to you: 



My Dear McKay: I have your letter of the 26th inst. and note your 

 request for some data concerning my herd. The herd consists at the 

 present time of 36 cows. Usually when the stalls are full there are 40 

 cows. They are registered Guernseys, all of them, and are handled for 

 the combined profit of their milk and progeny. Twenty-two of the herd 

 have gone through the advanced registry with an average production of 

 8,242 pounds of milk and 446.43 pounds of butter-fat or 510 pounds of 

 butter. The average wholesale price of butter at Elgin last year I think 

 was about 27c. This would give an average earning per cow of the herd 

 in butter of $137.92. The skimmed milk I consider worth $16.20. This 

 would make the earnings of the cows $144.12 at the pail. Their keep 

 was $45 per head. This leaves a net profit above the cost of feed $99.12 

 on a creamery basis, such as many farmers might practice. 



