72 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



This accounts for John going away on a vacation in July, 

 after the haying was finished, — a thing he had never been 

 guilty of before. He felt kind of guilty as he was driven 

 to the station, all dressed up in his Sundaj' best, for he knew 

 the folks lionie would have do his chores. But he believed 

 it would pay. He did not realize, then, like many another 

 good brother, that travel is a great educator in itself; he 

 learned that later. As he sped across countrj^ in the rapidly 

 moving train, through fertile valleys, over rich bottoms and 

 along by rolling uplands, he saw many herds of cattle, kept 

 mainly for milk production. He was greatly impressed with 

 their variation and their apparent inferiority, even when 

 seen from the cars ; it was a revelation to him. In later 

 years, when travelling through the green pastures of Eng- 

 land and Scotland, among the many uniform herds there, his 

 mind harked back to that trip across American soil on that 

 warm July day. The contrast was striking, and he felt full 

 sure that it was educational in its effect. If some of his 

 fellow countrymen could have seen these sights, as he did, 

 he was siu-e they would have taken the lesson well to heart. 



The Exposition reached, the cows soon came in for exam- 

 ination. The}^ represented both dairy and general purpose 

 type ; but it impressed him that, from the point of dairy 

 value, the closer the cows adhered to dairy type, the better 

 they ranked in production. There were exceptions, but the 

 average of a class was what he judged by. From the profit 

 point of view, he saw more money in the udder of capacity 

 than he did in the thick buttocks and meaty back and breast. 

 The working dairy records were also demonstrating that one 

 class gave better returns than another. He was particularly 

 impressed with several individuals, not so much for breed as 

 for dairy character. 



On the return home a short stop was made at the two 

 herds referred to by his father, and here he saw many great 

 cows of wonderful capacity. He noticed that these men 

 had unusually well lighted and ventilated barns on their 

 farms ; and he saw their advantage, knowing that tubercu- 

 losis, that dread disease among cattle, would not thrive in 

 plenty of light and pure air. He also noticed that the 



