ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 221 



It may be said to the credit of this cow that she is not a 

 vicious animal. The dairyman has nothing to fear from her 

 horns or her feet. She is a well-behaved creature, familiar to 

 every farmer, and usually there is nothing suspicious about her 

 manner. But when it comes to remorseless stealing of the bread 

 from the mouths of the dairyman's family, her tribe may well 

 be classed with the great business sharks that prey upon the peo- 

 ple. She has kept the dairymen of this state out of fully five 

 millions of dollars the past year without the slightest shame or 

 nervousness. And yet the dairyman follows this cow as though 

 he had never known freedom from such an encumbrance. 



The dairyman who says that dairying don't pay is ten to 

 one boarding several cows of that kind in his herd. 



The dairyman is not exactly easy in his mind. That chain 

 is heavy and tight, but he has carried it so long he thinks that 

 burdens belong w^ith dairying, or he lays the blame to ill luck 

 or a poor price for milk; or perchance he says he cannot afford 

 to keep good cows, forgetting that he could less afford to keep 

 poor or worthless ones. 



But see, the hands of science and the most successful dairy 

 experience have provided him a key to the situation. As soon 

 as ever he sees it — O, that he might see! — he will make use of 

 the scales and Babcock test and find out what every cow on the 

 place is doing for him — or against him. Armed with that 

 knowledge, he will never follow that pious old fraud of a spend- 

 thrift cow again. 



The cow for this dairyman stands behind him. She has 

 learned the knack of turning feed into milk and butter fat. She 

 represents the average production of the best fourth of the dairy 

 cows in Illinois, (300 pounds of butter fat per year), and the 

 dairyman should get better acquainted with her. She is a better 

 cow than he thought. In fact, he has not thought enough about 

 this cow or known how many such are in his herd. He cannot 

 know without using the key — weighing and testing the milk of 

 each cow for the year. He would have a vastly easier time of 

 it if he were tied to this cow, and to this cow alone. And as 

 sure as he uses the scales and test and comes to know each cow's 



