Bureau op Ageicultueb. 187 



other advantage is the longer grazing season in Ken- 

 tucky. Our soil as -well as our climate is such that we 

 are able to produce splendid crops of com, clover, cow 

 peas and alfalfa hay. A good dairy farmer in Kentucky 

 will need to buy very little .feed for his stock. This is 

 extremely important, because the success of the dairy 

 farm is almost in direct proportion to its ability to pro- 

 duce com, hay, grasses and other forage for cattle feed- 

 ing. A successful dairyman must first be a successful 

 crop producer. Cheap raw materials must be available 

 if profits are expected, and these raw materials consist 

 for the most part of home-grown roughage. The dairy 

 farmer whose capacious hay loft is filled with hay, whose 

 silos are overflowing with rich com ensilage, and com 

 fields smile with a bountiful harvest, is the man who 

 will make money in dairying. Incidentally, the man who 

 is engaged in dairy farming has the best opportunity to 

 keep up the fertility of his soil so that bountiful harvest 

 may be secured. Abundant proof of the importance of 

 growing large quantities of roughage may be found any- 

 where in Kentucky where milk cows are kept. This is 

 equally true in all of the great dairy districts of Wiscon- 

 sin, Minnesota, New York, and Michigan. In all of these 

 districts great crops of hay and forage are grown. Com, 

 hay and the dairy cow go hand in hand. The combina- 

 tion means splendid fertile farms, with well-built barns 

 and silos, commodious homes and the highest type of 

 rural- citizenship. 



Kentucky dairy farms have access to good markets. 

 The cities of Louisville and Cincinnati furnish excellent 

 markets for a large number of milk shippers. The 

 smaller cities such as Lexington, Bowling Green, Hop- 

 kinsville, and Paducah, furnish local markets for dairy 

 products. Evansville, Nashville and St. Louis are also 

 within shipping distance to a large number of Kentucky 

 farmers. Markets for cream and butter available for a 

 much wider territory are furnished by a number of large 

 creameries situated in the cities mentioned. Besides 

 our local market for butter, we are at the gateway to 

 the great butter market of the south, and also within 

 convenient shipping distance of the centers of popula- 

 tion of the east. 



