GENERAL HINTS l6l 



reading he finds an idea that is worth saving for 

 future use, it should be cut out and put in the scrap 

 box. When a quantity has accumulated they may be 

 pasted in the scrap book. This book should be well 

 bound. An old cloth-bound account book, with about 

 two-thirds of the leaves cut out, is good for the pur- 

 pose. A carefully prepared index by topics is indis- 

 pensable. In this manner a large amount of valuable 

 information can be soon accumulated. Experience is 

 a valuable teacher, but an expensive one. But when 

 experience can be procured by proxy, it is like get- 

 ting an article as good as new and at a great reduc- 

 tion on first cost. A man may tell in half a column 

 what has cost him years of experience to learn. The 

 writer has in this way gathered three books full of 

 the life experience of others. The value of such a 

 book to its compiler is beyond estimate. 



RECORD OF COWS 



A book in which to enter the name, age, parentage 

 and record of each cow is also indispensable; such 

 data cannot be trusted to memory. A good plan is 

 to have a marker in the ear of each animal with the 

 t'umber of the animal and the owner's name. In 

 case of strays it is a matter of identification and en- 

 ables the owner to keep a correct record of the ani- 

 mal. An excellent practice is to have the name and 

 herd number of each cow placed over her stanchion. 

 The names may be lettered with a stencil outfit cost- 

 ing about seventy-five cents. In the record book a 

 sufficient space under the name of each cow is needed 

 for any important remarks in relation to her pro- 

 duction and history. 



