94 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



down to a resigned sort of contest with nature, believing 

 that she will give him nothing except in return for a severe 

 physical struggle. He forgets that he labors no harder to 

 overcome nature than does the miner, the lumberman, the 

 mechanic, the manufacturer ; but somehow they come to 

 their struggle with a keener zest for gain, with a deeper 

 appreciation of the help of science, and a broader belief in 

 the power of study, thought, knowledge, — in short, the 

 power of mind over matter. 



There was such a thing as old-time dairy practice. It 

 was governed by the conditions and demands that then 

 existed. It filled that demand very fairly, but it does not 

 fit the necessities of to-day. There has been a great change. 

 New conditions and demands have arisen. Why, the taste 

 that governs the market in butter to-day is nothing like the 

 taste that was in vogue thirty years ago. 



The ever-present difficulty that we confront is, that there 

 are so many of the farmers who keep cows who are anxious 

 for profit, but who have not changed with the times. They 

 are administering their business and shaping their practice 

 to-day with the ideas and judgment that belonged to yes- 

 terday. 



I am convinced that the only road out of our present dif- 

 ficulties as dairy farmers is to abandon a large proportion 

 of the old-time notions we have concerning the conduct of 

 our business, and look at it more in the light of modern 

 necessities and demands. Let me enumerate some of these 

 necessities : — 



First. — More revenue. Our present civilization is more 

 expensive than it was fifty years ago. It costs more to live 

 decently and socially, and educate ourselves and children. 

 An old man in my town got drunk and fell into the mud on 

 the side of the curbstone, and commenced to shout, "Help, 

 help," he said, "and an almighty sight of it, too." I 

 would most candidly commend his prayer. 



Second. — Increasing competition in the production of 

 dairy products. Whole States have been added to the pro- 

 duction of butter and cheese, and time and space have been 

 almost annihilated by the wonderful march of intellect in 



