No. 4.] MILCH COWS. 33 



I 80 firmly believe in the fundamental truth at the heart of 

 this problem that I want to see the dairymen of the east cast 

 their lot for a larger comprehension of this principle of struct- 

 ure, because it, and it alone, will lead to that weeding out 

 of inferior animals, and that critical selection of blood lines 

 most likely to insure individual worth in coming genera- 

 tions, — cows possessing most positive virtues. 



A generation must pass before the weeding process will be 

 intelligently applied, and to prepare for the future and estab- 

 lish types having special reference to purpose is the demand of 

 the hour. Could you wipe from the State of Massachusetts 

 to-day every cow incapable of yielding a net balance at the 

 end of the year, you would lift the heaviest burden now rest- 

 ing like a pall on many a farm. Could you arouse men to 

 make sharp and clear tests of their individual animals to-day, 

 giving or seeking to give each the food and treatment best 

 adapted to its needs, the cry of poverty on the farm would 

 be hushed to a whisper so faint that it could scarcely be 

 heard. 



Let us be thankful for conditions which make mental growth 

 and activity a necessity, for it is out of these, and these alone, 

 that capacity is increased and full manhood insured. Let no 

 man be content with what he has, while furnishing every 

 opportunity for it to do its best. The limit of production 

 will ever be an unsolved problem, resting entirely on the 

 skill and intelligence of man. Not in dwelling on what is, 

 but in seeking for what may be, will there result improve- 

 ment. Ideal conditions must be made clear to the individual 

 man and animal, — ideal structure fixed as the sole purpose 

 in breeding. The larger the conception of what is involved, 

 of what one would have, the more rapid the approach towards 

 fruition. It is only in large conceptions that smaller results 

 are brought to full realization. Seeking for the higher, the 

 lower adjust themselves. 



He who reaches for a herd every one of which will yield 

 five hundred pounds of butter yearly, will more rapidly bring 

 harmony in structure and increase in output than he whose 

 conception is on a lower level. For this reason more time 

 needs be given to the study and appreciation of structural 

 parts and their relation. In this study one's ideal takes more 



