No. 4.] THE PROFITABLE DAIRY COW. 89 



cattle. Would it not be well for us to see if we cannot 

 develop a breed of stock that shall be the kind that we want 

 here, and the kind that it will be profitable for us to raise 

 and sell? Will not the lecturer recommend to us that we 

 off'er at our cattle shows larger premiums for some particular 

 breed adapted to the needs of our State ? 



Professor Plumb. Those are difficult questions to answer. 

 I have been very much impressed with the fact that Massa- 

 chusetts has had for over a hundred years a society that has 

 been too little known in the United States. I know Massa- 

 chusetts has done things that are very remarkable, in bring- 

 ing cattle to this countr}^ and putting them out among the 

 farmers for a mere nominal price, that date back a great 

 many years. Personall3% I don't believe it is a practical 

 thing in any community to bring about very great revolu- 

 tions, excepting by education. I think education is the 

 thing necessary to growth among the farmers, both finan- 

 cially and otherwise. And the work of the experimeut 

 stations and the agricultural colleges in this country — and I 

 would also say the agricultural people — is so great that it 

 can hardly be measured, unless you have had an opportunity 

 to look into the faces of thousands and thousands of farmers 

 who are following the footsteps of the experiment stations 

 working in this country to-day. They will call your atten- 

 tion to the fact that there are States west of you where a 

 wonderful change is going on among the farmers, due to 

 the researches of our experiment stations and the work the 

 instructors are doing. The work in some of the western 

 States is a perfect revelation, as compared to what it Avas ten 

 or fifteen years ago. Himdreds of farmers' institutes are 

 being conducted. I received a letter once, saying that 

 farmers go thirty miles across the country, in sleighs and 

 sleds, to attend the farmers' institutes. So I say that educa- 

 tion will solve some of these problems. 



Mr. BowDiTCH. I thought perhaps we would emphasize 

 our practices by enlarging them in a special line, taking 

 some particular breed of cattle that we can agree upon as a 

 leading dairy breed ; then we can increase that breed and 

 improve it in this State. I believe it is feasible. I know 



