206 ILLINOIS STATE DAUIYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



tion stock suited to the realization under skilled development of the spec- 

 ial purpose idea. Who can say but that if the same skill and patience and 

 persistence and capital, had been employed in building up a race of Ameri- 

 can cattle by American breeders from native foundation stock, we would 

 not today have in the United States a distinctively American dairy cow, ex- 

 ceiling any race imported to our shores. Almost of necessity in a land like 

 this, race would be composite in its nature, made up of converging currents 

 of hereditary influences. The immediate effect of this crossing of vigorous 

 individuals of distinct and separate branches of the same race, or of judic- 

 ious crossing of the native cow with various races, where the principle of 

 selection had been intelligently applied, with the purpose of producing the 

 distinctively dairy cow always in view, would have manifested itself in in- 

 creased vigor and the very highest finctional capacity. 



The same methods employed by many American breeders in producing 

 the profitable cow of the different breeds may be adapted and practical by 

 every progressive dairyman or breeder. Experience has widened the 

 domain of knowledge and it is th part of wisdom to profit by the exper- 

 ience of others and to strive to improve upon their methods. 



I was once asked by a number of my class in Breeding what kind of 

 cattle I would recommend as being the best for Minnesota. The best for 

 what purpose? I asked. The best to make the most money out of he re- 

 plied. 



I did not answer that question then, and I do not propose to try to 

 answer it now. I am. reminded that "Every man thinks that his own geese 

 are swans." 



The dairyman's rirst commandment is, Get comfort for the cows, A 

 great many so-called dairymen know no more about how to take care of 

 a cow than a society woman knovs how to hold a baby. But the same 

 dairyman is a misnomer, they are nothing but cow-keeper?. 



The genuine dairyman knows that the proper care of the animal that 

 is to be a profitable dairy cow begins with care of the calf. He regards the 

 calf as more than a mere bit of cow-making material out of which by in- 

 fluences more or less pertuitous, a cow may be made. A calf is something 



