406 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



And again, the fertility of the soil of our grain growing sections can 

 not long stand the bombardment of continual cropping, and ■ how often 

 do we notice an expression of hunger plainly stamped upon the surface 

 of our lands; of soils hungry for the fertility of which they have been 

 robbed; soils, where rain and sunshine and nature exerted their every 

 influence to bring an abundant harvest, continued peace and protit to the 

 tiller of the soil, contentment and happiness into the rural home? 



We find no such conditions in those districts that have followed in the 

 traditional path of the dairy cow, and these are the sections that today, 

 stand out boldly, as an exemplification of the highest ideal of agricultural 

 thrift and prosperity. 



The reason for this is found in the fact, that the crops of the soil 

 are milled through the cow and the product hauled to market, tied 

 up in the smallest possible package, in the shape of butter or cheese. 

 She nips our grasses, consumes our grains and forage crops, and converts 

 them into a product that is sought the world over as a staple article 

 of food, and yet she returns to the fertility of the farm a large percent 

 of those ingredients found in the food stuffs she has consumed, and when 

 the dairy farmer buys a ton of wheat bran to feed his cows, he gets 

 nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash valued at $12.30, as compared with 

 the price of commercial fertilizer, or $12.30 of the fertility of the farms 

 of Kansas, the Dakotas and other wheat growing states; when he buys 

 a ton of cotton seed meal he gets $26.16 worth of the soil fertility from 

 the cotton plantations of the south; a ton of oats $6.70, a ton of corn 

 $3.66, or a ton of clover hay $7.50, and yet, as alarming as it may seem, 

 when he hauls these feed stuffs back to market in the form of butter, 

 he parts with fertilizing ingredients to the value of but 42 cents per ton 

 and so it seems that eventually the dairy cow must come to the rescue 

 of many of our run down farms that are fast becoming exhausted by 

 continual grain raising. 



Some of us are dairymen of a natural born instinct; some are dairy- 

 men with a knowledge acquired through study, observation and practical 

 experience, and others are dairymen as they would be anything else, in 

 name only. As in everything else, some are successful, others unsuccess- 

 ful. Some of us fail because no branch of animal industry appeals to our 

 fancy and because a dairyman's occupation is thrust upon us through 

 force of circumstances, the vocation being distasteful and disagreeable, 

 but more fail because of looking upon the business too lightly and not 

 giving it the thought and study it requires. There is yet much for us all 

 fo learn and there is as yet plenty of room at the top of the profession. 

 At the top means a vocation remunerative and pleasant, but at the bottom 

 a life of drudgery and financial embarrassment. The dairyman's sky is 

 not always clear, neither need it always be cloudy if he will take a 

 survey of his own conditions and try to cultivate an acquaintance with 

 himself. 



The idea that anyone can meet with success in dairying by simply 

 moving in that direction is a great mistake for as in any other successful 

 enterprise, it takes head work, energy and push, and a thorough know- 

 edge of the subject in order to reach the best results. In fact the inside 



