Breeders' and Growers' Associations 89 



of every grower is more productive, more attractive, and 

 more profitable. The spirit that leads the people to meet 

 these rural problems collectively rather than individually 

 is quickened in such a community with a resulting impetus 

 to every movement that leads to a better country life. 



In order to set forth the manner in which the coopera- 

 tive method may be applied to the production and im- 

 provement of crops and animals, a discussion of a few 

 types of successful cooperation along these lines will 

 follow. 



COOPERATIVE COW-TESTING ASSOCIATIONS 



Every progressive dairyman understands that there 

 is a wide variation in the amount of milk and in the quan- 

 tity of butter-fat produced annually by the different 

 cows in the herd. He can reduce the question to an exact 

 basis by weighing the milk regularly, determining the 

 proportion of butter-fat with a Babcock tester, and by 

 keeping a record of the amount of food consumed by each 

 cow. In this way, he can eliminate the unprofitable 

 cows, and increase the efficiency of his herd. This is 

 profitable to the dairyman, but few will adopt the plan 

 individually. What the dairy industry needs is the appli- 

 cation of the methods of the progressive dairyman to all 

 of the cows of a community so that the entire industry can 

 be raised to the level of the most successful individual. 



The Danish Example 



The practical way to accomplish this end was shown 

 by a little group of dairymen in Vejen, Denmark, in 1895. 

 These dairymen, twelve in number, owned 300 cows. 



