TWELFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IX 403 



poor dairy sires and in their places we find pure bred animals with 

 milking records in their pedigrees, and a general increase in the 

 quality of the average dairy cow shown by a marked increase in her 

 yearly production. 



With pardonable pride, we recognize the fact that every county in 

 Iowa is well adapted for dairy farming and any amount of work 

 done to better the dairy conditions in this state through the press, 

 by the railroad companies, by the State Dairy Association or by 

 the Dairy and Food Commission will not lack for appreciation. We 

 sliould be milking more and better cows than we are ; we should 

 test them and weed out the poor ones, raise the standard not only 

 of our herds but of our products as well; we should recognize the 

 laws of the state regulating the sanitary care of our dairies and 

 listen to the efficient means used in disseminating the basic prin- 

 cipals of up-to-date dairying. 



SILOS AND SILAGE. 



The high price of concentrated feed is, at the present time, one 

 of great importance to the dairyman. Ten years ago it was impos- 

 sible to buy commercial feeds at a nominal cost, but today they have 

 almost doubled in prices. The dairyman with pure bred stock or a 

 fancy market may possibly make a profit by using such feed, but 

 the average farmer must strive to raise his own grain and rough- 

 age to a large extent. Too many farmers are prone to believe that 

 the only way to make money is to get high prices for their products 

 and have plenty of these products to sell ; but prices are not always 

 high and the farmer does not always have a large supply on hand, so 

 there must be some other factor entering into the profit side of 

 dairying. It is reasonable to assume that the dairyman receiving 

 only a fair price for his product should be able to have an income 

 sufficient to pay him wages besides a fair net profit. Considering 

 the present price of butter fat the well managed dairy farm should 

 indeed l)e a source of wealth. 



In the central w^est corn is hailed as the king of all cereals, form- 

 ing the backbone of the rations of the majority of our farm animals. 

 By placing corn in the silo the stalk as well as the ear is preserved, 

 thus making the whole corn plant available for feeding purposes. 

 Practically 40 per cent, of the feeding value of the corn plant 



