ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN^ ASSOCIATION. 27 



equal footing cannot compete with the hog or steer, let 

 her go. But we need not expect to exterminate this 

 evil at once. As long as there is big money in a business, 

 it will die hard. It is a foe born of the greed of gain. 

 It should be treated as the common enemy of mankind. 

 There is another way in which we can fight it, and 

 upon these lines we may properly give a portion of 

 our time at this session. We may lessen the cost of 

 milk, cut down the expense of making till we can under- 

 sell them and leave a decent margin of profit. 



I may be charged with being visionary, but I firmly 

 believe that the time is coming and that it is not far 

 away when the product of the dairy will be sold at 

 twenty five per cent, below the present price, leaving a 

 better margin of profit than any other farm pro- 

 duct. 



How will this state of things be brought about? Get 

 better cows, keep only the best, take better care of 

 them, raise cheaper feed, take better care of the milk, 

 get better butter-makers and salesmen. 



These subjects will be discussed as they come before 

 you. How shall we get better cows ? Pay more atten- 

 tion to breeding, there is more in breeding than ya. 

 breeds. While it would not be wise to go to the 

 extent the crank did, who in order to produce a breed 

 of chickens that would not scratch up his garden, 

 crossed a Shanghai and a Bantam, hoping to get a 

 breed with legs of an uneven length so that when 

 scratching time came the effort would tumble him over 

 and he would leave the garden a disgusted chicken. 



Experience has demonstrated the fact that the best 

 milkers of to-day, whether among our native or im- 

 ported stock, are the result of careful breeding. There 

 is much difference between the clean-cut beautifully 



