No. 4.] MILCH COWS. 29 



fully alive to the necessity for ultimate product and able to 

 direct the environments of his animals. 



I make these assertions, not new to any, because no study 

 of this great problem of structure can be of service save as 

 the man is master of the situation. If conditions are exact- 

 ing and the situation critical, be thankful for the opportunity 

 and the impulse to be larger men. 



Admit that structure controls purpose, and at once the fact 

 comes home that there must be special lines of structural 

 conformation in order for greatest harmony in performing 

 special service. It is with special-purpose animals we have 

 to do, and this thought alone claims attention. One hundred 

 and twenty to fifty pounds of butter and three thousand j)Ounds 

 of milk mark the limit with the general-purpose cow. Two 

 hundred and fifty pounds of butter and five thousand pounds 

 of milk mark the minimum possible with any man who expects 

 to-day to sell the raw products of his farm, and realize mar- 

 ket rates in the resultant product following feeding. In the 

 sure increase of milk and dairy products, and sharper com- 

 petition next year, three hundred pounds of butter and six 

 thousand pounds of milk must he the standard. Get these 

 figures solid, for they will stand. Even though, as special- 

 ists, your herds range far and away above the limit, the 

 lesson bears as heavily on your shoulders as any. 



Mark you, the word "average" does not appear, and it 

 will be well if it is stricken out of the breeders' vocabulary, 

 for there will be no room for averages in the work of 1898. 

 Animals must be regarded as individuals, their worth to be 

 determined solely by individual output, in proportion to cost 

 of production. 



For this to be possible there must be a well-constructed, 

 evenly balanced, frictionless machine, every part in harmony 

 with every other part. The bearings and adjustments of this 

 wonderful machine will be in direct ratio to the appreciation 

 of the owner of ultimate purpose. 



For this reason a thorough study of structure throughout 

 the entire animal economy becomes an absolute necessity with 

 every man breeding or keeping cows for profit, or expecting 

 to be recognized in the demand of to-morrow. Great as has 

 been the advance of the past, the greatest curse of Massachu- 



