EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK-PART VII. 319 



tions that their average butter production per cow was about 275 pounds. 

 Thus at the end of five years we find that the yield per cow has in- 

 creased from 275 pounds to 336 pounds, basing the test on an average of 

 3.80. 



If our average is only 140 pounds per cow, then how much easier it 

 would be to make an increase of 61 pounds per cow. It is not so much 

 the question today of keeping more cows as it is of keeping better cows 

 and caring for them intelligently. Possibly we do not have 25 farmers 

 in the state of Iowa that keep a record of their cows and in so doing 

 know what each cow is producing. That is, they do not know if she is 

 simply a boarder or if she is bringing in profitable returns. How long 

 do you suppose one of our business firms could exist if they carried on 

 their business in such a haphazard manner? A great deal of discussion 

 has taken place in our dairy and agricultural journals regarding the 

 merits and demerits of the dual purpose cow and the so-called special 

 dairy type. The more important questions should be what returns does 

 a cow give for the food and care she gets? It is immaterial what breed 

 of cows you get unless they are provided with proper shelter to protect 

 them from the inclement weather and also provided with succulent feed 

 they will not produce economically. All animals, man included, sooner 

 or later, adjust themselves to their environment. This was brought quite 

 clearly to my mind while visiting the Isle of Man a few years ago. 

 The sheep in that rocky, almost barren country were about one-half the 

 size of the sheep here. They had adjusted themselves to their country. 

 They were especially adapted for seeking their living on the rocky cliffs. 

 A cow is only a machine for transforming the rougher foods, such as 

 corn, fodder, and other grains, into finer or finished products that we call 

 milk and cream. The efficiency of any machine depends largely on the 

 care and attention it receives. Therefore it would be absurd to expect 

 a cow that was partly starved or fed on unsuitable foods for milk produc- 

 tion, to compete successfully with a cow that was receiving proper care 

 and attention. The Babcock test and a pair of scales have been recom- 

 mended for years, as the only sure means for determining the value of 

 a cow, but I maintain they are not the only requisites. 



When the Good Master came to the fig tree and found no fruit He did 

 not condemn it. but gave it another chance under better conditions, and 

 then if it did not produce fruit it was to be hewn down and cast into the 

 fire. Therefore, before we condemn a cow we should be sure that we 

 have done our part. We might say it is largely a question of the man 

 behind the gun. This reminds me of a little incident that occurred while 

 traveling through Germany some years ago with a professional violin 

 player. One day we had occasion to call upon an old German farmer 

 and found him with his son trying to produce some music upon an old 

 violin. After listening to him awhile my friend took the violin and 

 played as only an expert can, when the German suddenly exclaimed, 

 "By shiminy, that violin is worth five times as much as I thought it was." 

 I presume many farmers have felt the same after disposing of a cow to 

 some one who, by care and attention, has developed all her powers. When 

 Denmark changed from a beef-producing country to a dairy country, be- 

 cause dairying gave them greater returns than they were getting from 



