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said: "How would you do that?" The farmer said: "I would send all of 

 the people who are going about the country advising the farmer and every- 

 one else what to do, to the war zone and put them in the front line, and the 

 Kaiser would throw up his hands in despair because he would not have 

 enough gas masks to go around." [Laughter.] 



I don't want you people to put on gas masks, I don't want to attempt 

 to advise you, but simply want to talk with you relative to reducing the farm 

 cost of producing dairy products. 



What I have to say about the production of dairy products, what I have 

 to say in favor of dairying as compared to other forms of marketing our 

 farm products is not said to discourage the efficient production of other 

 classes of farm animals. We need them all. We need a balanced animal 

 husbandry and balanced farming in this country. We appreciate that at the 

 present time the men who are producing pork, the men who are feeding the 

 corn to hogs are getting a very good return from their corn as compared with 

 the market price at the elevator. We realize that the lamb and sheep feeders 

 are making money. We realize in the case of the beef cattle industry, the 

 men who are using the best judgment and methods are making money. Of 

 course, they have had one or two hard years. We might go further and con- 

 sider the draft horse industry and others, but that is not my subject this 

 morning. 



SOME RECOGNIZED FACTS. 



We do realize that the dairy cow is the most efficient and economic pro- 

 ducer of human food of any of the farm animals. We realize she converts 

 the farm roughage and grains into a very nutritious product. We know it 

 is a product that is necessary from the standpoint of proper growth and 

 development of children. We know it is necessary from the standpoint of 

 the maintenance of health and proper nutrition of the adult. 



We know furthermore that the dairy cow retains and builds up soil 

 fertility better than we do it with other systems of farming. 



We know furthermore that one of the things in favor of dairying at the 

 present time is the fact that the dairy cow gives us a steady and dependable 

 source of income, a thing which is certainly needed in Iowa at the present 

 time, and no doubt appreciated by the farmers in Illinois as well. We find 

 that with this situation before us even the most enthusiastic dairyman, if 

 he be absolutely truthful, would have to admit that there are many unprofit- 

 able so-called dairy herds. 



The fact that a man has a dairy herd, or has a reputation of being a 

 dairyman does not mean that he should have unlimited credit at the bank, 

 because we find that there are unprofitable as well as profitable dairy herds. 

 In fact, I am sure that taking the country as a whole our dairy cows do not 

 produce more than 50 per cent as much milk and butter fat as they could 

 and' would if we would follow the business methods of dairy farming that 

 our most successful dairy farmers follow. You know it takes real brains to 

 be a successful farmer of any type, certainly at the present time, and we 

 realize that both dairy farming and livestock farming are real businesses 

 that must be conducted upon business methods. We -realize that in the case 

 of some individuals who go about it in a rather slip-shod way probably the 

 law of averages helps them out to a certain extent. Men who are in and out 

 of any business are likely to go in at the high time and out at the low. We 

 have many illustrations of that in our state. If a man stays in a game he 

 is best fitted for and gives it his best effort mentally as well as physically 

 he is the man who will win out in the long run. 



Speaking about keeping at it reminds me of a story that Clifford Thorne 

 once told us of a soldier that was in the habit of betting. Probably the story 

 has been told here. He said that this soldier would bet upon every occasion. 

 He would bet upon anything that was suggested. He would bet with his 

 buddies as they were marching down the road that the next horse they met 

 would be a white horse; he would bet that the next girl they met would be 

 a red-headed girl. He would bet upon anything with anybody. The captain 

 thought that this thing had gone far enough, that this fellow was rather 



