220 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



THE BOYS ON THE FARM, 



"BUFJ* JERSEY." 



Mr. President. I will just merely relate my own experience. My boys 

 carry on the work of the dairy on the farm. I carry a herd of forty cows. 

 I have three boys on the farm who are capable of milking from ten to 

 twelve cows each, and I have my "right hand," which is a young lady of 

 19 years. I conduct a dairy school every day in the year with my own 

 family. I get all the best literature I can find on the subject, every book 

 that I can hear of that I think is essential to my children's welfare, I buy 

 it. 



There is hardly a day passes but what we discuss the merits of wka*- 

 we read in these papers. My oldest son knows more about balanced 

 rations than most b>ya, and conducts my correspondence on that subject. 



Our method in conducting our herd is as systematic perhaps as any 

 bank or merchant has. In our barn we have our milk sheer printed on 

 heavy paper. The sheets are large enough so every cow in the barn has 

 her column. The nime is at the top and the date at th* left and side of 

 the paper, and every boy and every one that milks weighs the milk every 

 day in the year. There is a place a the right side of the sheet for general 

 remarks. If a cow is off her feed or shrinks her milk or any thing else is 

 the matter, then we will record that against her, and it goes on the re- 

 marks column. These sheets are for fifteen days. Then I take them down 

 and put up clean ones i take the old sheets and put them in the ledger; 

 put down the amonnt of milk each ccw gives during the fifteen days. It 

 is recorded in the general remarks column. 



Each cow in the barn is subjected every thirty days to the Babcock 

 test. All of this work is done by the boys. I have a son 15 years old who 

 carried on a test of the cows when he was 13, according to ihe rules of the 

 Jersey Cattle Club. 



As I said before I am conducting a dairy school twelve months in the 

 year with my boys and girls. My girls don't do the milking, but the 

 girl that works in the creamery is probably as well versed in farm butter 



