•J-IO Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 June, 1919. 



In addition to the output of dairy products, Wisconsin's cereal yield 

 is considerable. Tliougli less than two-thirds the size of Viotoria, and 

 though the northern half of the State is mostly poor land in need- of 

 drainage, Wisconsin, besides producing £16,000,000 worth of dairy 

 products, raises 100,000,000. busliels of oats, 70,000,000 bushels of maize, 

 and 25,000,000 bushels of barley. 



The dairy industry of Victoria is capable of almost indefinite im- 

 provement. Our climatic and soil conditions are eminently suited for 

 dairying. No other country — save, perhaps, A'^ew Zealand — has such a 

 uniformly mild temperature, such an abundance of rich pastures, nor such 

 natural conditions for the production of high-quality and high-grade 

 dairy products, Yet our average production per eow does not compare 

 favorably with countries which have poorer soil, climate, and pastures; 

 nor can it be said that the quality of our products are what they might 

 be. 



With all the natural advantages we possess we should become one 

 of the leading dairy States of the world. But before we can achieve 

 this destiny, the handicap's to efficient production must be removed. 

 Increased production per cow and increased efficiency in the handling 

 of dairy products are vital factors for our progress. Increased produc- 

 tion per cow may be eifected through the triple pathways of better feed- 

 ing methods, more attention to the use of high-grade sires, and the 

 drastic weeding out of the unprofitable " cow boarder " by the formation 

 of Cow Testing Associations, and the extension of the system of herd 

 testing now in vogue for pure-bred herds in Victoria. Increased efficiency 

 in handling and manufacturing dairy products may be brought about by 

 providing facilities for dairy research work on the lines followed in the 

 United States, and particularly in Wisconsin. 



It is a somewhat extraordinary fact that there is no institution in 

 Australia where the managers of butter factories and cheese factories 

 may obtain the special technical training for their life's work, or where 

 the managers might seek light on the many knotty technical problems 

 which constantly j;)resent themselves, or where investigational work on 

 the technical and manufacturing side of dairying is carried out. 



Above all, there is urgent need for intense propaganda work for 

 improved methods of production on the dairy farms of the State. 



This is. one of the problems of agricultural education, and I hope 

 that the members of this Conference will use their influence to secure for 

 the State a system of instructional, investigational, and extension work in 

 keeping with the importance of the agricultural interests of Victoria. 



