152 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



CO-OPERATIYE DAIRYING. 



E. L. BRIGHAM, COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE, ST. ALBAKS, VERMONT. 



The dairy industry is, generally speaking, of fundamental im- 

 portance in a system of farm management suited to New Eng- 

 land conditions. The dairy cow can turn the grasses growing 

 upon our rough, uncultivable pastures into a marketable prod- 

 uct; she aids in upbuilding soil fertility by returning to the 

 soil in manure a large proportion of the plant food we feed her; 

 and she furnishes to farmers and their men during the long 

 winter season employment yielding a steady income. When we 

 consider, also, that the farms of New England are but a few 

 hours' distance from populous, consuming centers which make 

 the best markets in the world, there is every reason why our 

 dairy industry should steadily develop and prosper. 



The final test by which any business stands or falls, however, 

 is the test of profit. If the business yields a return sufficiently 

 large to pay all costs, including interest on money invested, 

 depreciation, raw materials, labor, etc., together with a profit, 

 it is called a satisfactory business; men are attracted to it, the 

 spirit of success pervades it, and those who are engaged in it 

 are proud of their calling. On the other hand, men are driven 

 from the non-profitable business, and everything connected with 

 it has an atmosphere of discouragement and discontent. 



There seems to be a feeling among dairymen at the present 

 time that their industry is not a profitable one, as judged by the 

 standards I have indicated. Granting that this be true, what are 

 we, who are interested in this business, going to do about it? 



Nowadays, when a business is in trouble, a man called an 

 eflBciency expert is called in to study the business with a view 

 to instituting reforms which will lead to a decrease in the cost 

 of production. Have we done this in dairying? For a quarter 

 of a century or more agricultural experiment stations have 



