64 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



Individuality. 



It is very essential for the feeder to secure as soon as pos- 

 sible a judgment of each cow individually. There is nothing 

 in the whole game which plays a more potent part with food 

 and result than individuality. Every cow is not a heathen, 

 but, like the heathen, every cow is a " law unto herself." 

 Nancy Hanks trots a mile in 2.04 on twelve quarts of oats. 

 That is the speed product of her food. Think of that won- 

 derful result. Think of the millions of dollars that have 

 been expended to achieve it. Think of the intense effort 

 expended in the study of breeding, environment or proper 

 handlino; and care. Think of the intense education of the 

 trotting horse driver to give him the right judgment and 

 skill. Sum this all up and then tell me if you can measure 

 the problem of making a first-class trotter by twelve quarts 

 of oats a day. It can't be done. Then imagine a man tak- 

 ing a Norman or Clydesdale horse, weighing 1,500 pounds, 

 and trying to make a trotter of him by pouring oats into 

 him. You cannot imagine it, can you ? No. Why? Be- 

 cause there is not a farmer in the land but knows that breed- 

 ing and handling are vastly more important factors to success 

 in trottinof than feedino;. Not that food should not be con- 

 sidered, but you can find tens of thousands of farmers who 

 have just that Norman horse stamp of judgment about cows. 



In the address of AVilliam Widmann before the Wisconsin 

 Dairymen's Association on the subject, "How we handle 

 our dairy to get 306 pounds of butter per cow," which was 

 published in " Hoard's Dairyman," occur these significant 

 words : — 



Having conchided that it [dairying] was the most profitable 

 branch of fanning, we began taking better care of the cows, made 

 the stable more comfortable and warmed their drinking water, etc. 



Again : — 



On the 1st of October, 1891, the proprietor of the factory 

 started the system of paying for milk by the test plan. It devel- 

 oped that our milk only yielded 3.9 pounds of butter per 100 

 pounds of milk. Being dissatisfied tvith so loiv a yield, we tested 



