BUILDING UP A DAIRY HERD, WITH SUGGESTIONS ON 

 MIDSUMMER FORAGE CROPS. 



BY PROF. C. P. CURTISS, DIRECTOR AND AGRICULTURIST, IOWA AGRICUL- 

 TURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. , 



Ames, Iowa. 



The primary problem in dairy progress is the cow. The success of the 

 dairy industry in any locality must depend primarily on the dairy cow and 

 her management. Marked advance has been made in recent years in 

 the improvement of facilities and methods for perfecting our dairy products, 

 but the cow is still the source of supply of the raw material. It is the func- 

 tion of the creamery and dairy to convert the raw material into finished 



products of the highest degree 

 of excellence; but the cow pre- 

 cedes the factory. The process 

 of butter production supple- 

 ments milk production. In- 

 ferior cows mean loss to the 

 owner and failure to the fac- 

 tory. 



By reason of the improve- 

 ments made in creamery 

 methods and appliances, the cow 

 is a much less important factor 

 than formerly in determining 



the W^ f the P roduct . P*- 



Chan-pum Awdl. State 



Fairs, 1900, When 12 Years Old; Also First Prize on vided the milk is obtained in 

 Get of Si re at Both Fairs. , . , . 



wholesome condition. The but- 



termaker is now conceded to have more to do with this than the cow. In 

 computing the profit and loss, however, we are compelled to reckon with 

 the cow first, last and all the time. In this feature the cow is 'a greater 

 factor than ever before. 



Two years ago I spent a couple of days attending the annual exhibition 

 of the Royal Agricultural Society of Jersey Island. This exhibition is a 

 Jersey cattle show. All the cattle on the island are Jerseys. As I studied 

 my catalogue, I noted the frequency of the occurrence of a particular sire 



