172 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



a real use for it. There are many essential details which must 

 be known and provided for, and carried into every day's work, 

 that such a man will neither do himself, or require any one else 

 to do for him. Under such circumstances the disadvantages 

 would surely overbalance the advantages, and inevitable failure 

 sooner or later, stare that man in the face. 



But the faces before me do not represent men of that 

 character. I think they are not here; they would not go out of 

 their tracks to learn anything new that had work behind it; they 

 would not read the best dairy paper in the world if it was their 

 privilege, free of cost. But should there chance to be, in this 

 .audience, a lazy person who has any connection with the dairy 

 business I venture the assertion that he or she has not long been 

 in that business, and dependent upon it for a living. The so- 

 called butter, made by such people, overload the markets with 

 a kind of — what shall I call it.? — well, you name it, that sells 

 at a price that the cows, if they could speak, would disdain, for 

 their share of the work. But to the man or woman who loves 

 the cow and the work connected with dairying, and is willing to 

 learn all truths, not only for truths sake, but to put them into 

 practical operation, I will say: 



First. — That I believe all land, however rich and productive, 

 could be benefitted by pasturing, and properly using the fer- 

 tilizer from the cows, calves and hogs, (the latter very proper 

 adjuncts in the dairy business and essential to best financial re- 

 sults.) Many worn out farms with light sandy soil have been 

 wonderfully reclaimed, and made productive through the dairy 

 system of farming. I have had no practical experience with 

 that kind of soil, but many others have, and report good results. 

 I have often thought of the remark frequently made to me by a 

 good, old neighbor, more than a quarter of a century ago, when 

 we first bought and moved to our present home, (he has long 

 since been called to his long home). With almost pitying tones 

 he would say: '* John, it never will pay you to hire help to haul 

 so much manure." I thanked him for his kind advice, as I was 

 young, and had reverence for his age, but I said, ''Time will 

 tell." And it was not many years till the manure wagons ran 



