ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 27 



liner distinctions in cost and digestibility of food must be made, 

 the steer will pass from the stage and in his stead the dairy cow 

 will reign supreme as an economical producer of human food. 



Many things indicate that a movement for better dairying 

 in all its phases is taking hold of the minds of men. It is not so 

 much a question of more dairy farms and dairy cows as it is an 

 application of better methods of milk production on the dairy 

 farms which we already have. Some parts of Illinois should be 

 devoted to milk production because of soil, atmospheric condi- 

 tions, and transportation facilities, while other parts may well 

 let this industry almost entirely alone except to supply local de- 

 mands. In the dairy regions of this state milk is not produced 

 nor handled under as favorable conditions as the necessities of 

 economy and public health demand. In the more intensive 

 dairy districts some interest has been aroused indicating better 

 things in the near future, but in too many places the armor of 

 indifference has not yet been penetrated. All dairymen have 

 heard of the Babcock test and balance rations, but how many 

 make use of them ? What we need is a greater appreciation of 

 the value of these aids and a willingness to apply them in solving 

 the difficulties which come up on every farm. Years ago when 

 the fertile prairies were broken up for cultivation, there was no 

 thought entertained that perhaps the fertility of the soil might 

 soon be depleted by constant cropping, but we know now that 

 the vast store of fertility has suffered greatly from the demands 

 made upon it and all because the landlord failed to act in accord- 

 ance with his best knowledge. The same thing holds true today ; 

 dairymen do not put into practice and make use of facts and 

 appliances designed to aid them. 



About a year ago the department of dairy husbandry of the 

 University of Illinois began dairy field work among the herds 

 of Southern Illinois along lines similar to the work at that time 

 in progress in Northern Illinois. The object is to get in touch 

 with the dairymen through the testing of individual cows in the 

 different herds, thereby showing the owners how easily the 

 unprofitable cows may be sorted out by weighing the milk from 



