86 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



per cent of tliis was net profit, leaving $12 as the expense 

 of raising the crop. jSTow it is a fact that an acre of corn 

 of the weights given by him depletes the soil of $12 worth 

 of fertility. 



I have taken so much of j^our time to correct the common 

 error of to-day in many quarters in underestimating the im- 

 portance, and the possible profits, of the breeding of dairy 

 cattle. The breeding of registered dairy cattle, if done skill- 

 fully and intelligently, is the most profitable kind of dairy 

 husbandry. It is a business requiring skill and intelligence 

 of that order that is possessed by the ]^ew England farm boy 

 who has learned how to do well every task on one of these 

 little four or five cow hill farms. I avouM have him possess 

 a good common school education in addition to his farm edu- 

 cation, and besides that all the higher education he can get, 

 providing it can be done in a reasonable time and does not 

 estrange him from the cow and her care. Every breeder 

 should read the agTicultural papers, especially the dairy- 

 press, and without fail he must study the breed paper of 

 his dairy breed. He should get in as close touch as possible 

 with the agricultural college in his State. The best dairy 

 man that I have ever known received his inspiration for 

 work from a six weeks' course in dairying. He should be a 

 member of the Dairymen's Association of his State, also of 

 the Jersey, Holstein, Guernsey or Ayrshire associations. 



I would recommend VanPelt's " Cow Demonstration " 

 for a handbook, and Davenport's " Principles of Breeding " 

 for a textbook, on breeding. He should also spend an hour 

 each day reading the best English authors on breeding dairy 

 cattle. He must possess skill in judging the dairy cow, and 

 to get it should see and study every great dairy cow of his 

 breed within one hundred miles of his home. He must know 

 his score card and be able to see the fault or merit of each 

 particular organ. That such a life work is a delightful one 

 all may admit; but what about the fellow who says it won't 

 pay ? It is paying on tens of thousands of dairy farms in 

 America to-day. 



It pays even if only the increased value of the dairy 

 product is considered. In my own experience in breeding in 



