92 Cooperation in Agriculture 



feeding, better herds, and better general management. 

 It is the only practical method that has been adopted by 

 which the herds of a locality can be systematically im- 

 proved. Purely as a business matter, every farmer ought 

 to determine whether his cows are profitable or not. The 

 method of cow-testing has been advocated among the 

 dairymen for years, but comparatively few individual 

 farmers have adopted it. The farmer is usually too busy 

 to make a systematic test of his herd, and unless the tests 

 are continuous and systematic, they are worthless. The 

 cooperative plan, however, is thoroughly practical. It 

 furnishes a striking example of a method by which a 

 great industry can be built up by the adoption of a co- 

 operative plan where the individual has failed. 



The next step in the cow-testing association is the pur- 

 chase of a high-grade bull to be used in the improvement 

 of the herds of a community. The tests determine the 

 unprofitable cows. These the dairyman eliminates. It 

 fixes the most profitable animals in the herd. These the 

 dairyman breeds to high-grade bulls and thereby improves 

 the standard of the cows in the entire community. The 

 plan is simple and practical. Combined with the co- 

 operative creamery, the cow-testing association and the 

 cooperative ownership of high-grade bulls form a nucleus 

 through which the cooperative method of conducting 

 business can be applied more effectively to the dairy 

 industry than to most of the special agricultural industries 

 of the United States. 



