122 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



half a chance to show what they could do. They 

 have never been 'fed for milk.' Farmers don't 

 do that much. They think that if a cow doesn't 

 bawl for food or drink she has enough. I sup- 

 pose she has enough to keep her from starving, 

 and perhaps enough to hold her in fair condition, 

 but not enough to do this and fill the milk pail, 

 too. I read somewhere about a ration for f main- 

 tenance ' and one for product,' and there was a 

 deal of difference. Most farmers don't pay much 

 attention to these things, and I guess that's one 

 reason why they don't get on faster." 



" You've got the whole matter down fine in 

 that < ration for product,' Thompson, and that's 

 what we want on this farm. A ration that will 

 simply keep a cow or a hen in good health 

 leaves no margin for profit. Cows and hens are 

 machines, and we must treat them as such. 

 Crowd in the raw material, and you may look 

 for large results in finished product. The ques- 

 tion ought always to be, How much can a cow 

 eat and drink? not, How little can she get on 

 with ? Grain and forage are to be turned into 

 milk, and the more of these foods our cows eat, 

 the better we like it. If these machines work 

 imperfectly, we must get rid of them at once 

 and at any price. It will not pay to keep a 

 cow that persistently falls below a high standard. 

 We waste time on her, and the smooth running 

 of the factory is interrupted. I'm going to place 

 a standard on this farm of nine thousand pounds 



