IMPORTANCE OF THE DAIRY INDUSTRY 9 



animal. Cows also make use of the grasses that grow on 

 large areas of land that cannot be profitably tilled. 



11. Dairying and Maintenance of Soil Fertility. From most 

 pars of the United States large quantities of stock foods 

 are shipped out for foreign use. In many sections roughage 

 tha is good stock food is still destroyed. The introduction 

 of < Dairying helps to keep a larger part of the fertility on the 

 farm. Many farmers who make dairying a part of their 

 farm business consider the maintenance of soil fertility, and 

 the use of waste products, to be as important as the direct 

 profits from the cows. 



] Experiments for many years have shown that it is pos- 

 sib'e to maintain the fertility of the soil by means of chemical 

 fer 1 ilizers, but as a matter of fact farmers who use farm 

 ma nure are most likely to keep up the fertility. 



Cows Help to Provide a Full Year's Work. A farm is pri- 

 marily a place to work. The carpenter who works only 

 half the year is not likely to accumulate much property, 

 nor is the farmer who works only half the year likely to 

 pay for a farm. A limited number of cows on the farm 

 give employment in the morning and evening when field 

 work cannot be done. In the North where cows are most 

 numerous, the days are so short during much of the year 

 that a full day's work cannot be done, unless there are chores 

 to do. Cattle also provide work for stormy days and for 

 cold days in winter. They also provide work that children 

 can do before and after school. 



Farm children are particularly fortunate in that they 

 have to help their fathers in the farm work. In the cities 

 laws are passed to prevent child labor, not because all labor 

 is injurious but because of the conditions under which the 

 work is done. Farm children learn much by working with 



