220 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



get cows that will pay you. You go to your best dairymen and 

 find out what they are feeding their cows, clover hay or alfalfa. 

 I do not care how good the cow is the good dairyman must go 

 with her. Many times you find a man who is a good farmer but 

 not a god dairyman. You must have the two to make a success. 

 Another phase, you must finance this to make a success. Some 

 of the very best farmers of every community fall down because 

 they do not know how to finance their business. We grow al- 

 falfa when it does well. It is one of the best things for ensilage 

 and the animals will take all they can get. There has been some 

 complaint about the labor of filling these silos. You take these 

 modern improvements and it settles the question of filling the 

 silo. It picks up all of the ears that are scattered and you can 

 do more with the teams and the men will not be striking. We 

 drive up and throw the bundles. That is the most economical 

 way to handle the corn crop. In this way it is all eaten. They 

 thrive on the clover and alfalfa hay; it makes nearly a balanced 

 ration. 



I came to the conclusion thirty years ago that it was up to 

 every man to lessen the cost of production even if it took united 

 effort to raise the price. There are men that produce for half 

 what it costs others to produce the same thing. There is a 

 chance for improvement right here. The dairy farm is no more 

 or less than a manufacturing plant. The details of dairying are 

 your working capital, the object is the same as the manufactur- 

 ing business, to make that working capital pay the largest 

 amount possible as well as to add to its value in the way of soil 

 fertility. The soil is sensitive to the touch the same as your 

 dairy cow responds with good care and a balanced ration. We 

 must raise larger crops to the acre. We do not raise nearly what 

 we ought on this land. You take corn, only 35 bushels, it ought 

 to be more than double. There is no market that will pay as 

 high a price for the feed as the dairy cow; that is the highest 

 market. In this dairy business the market does not fluctuate as 

 it does in the beef. 



At one time I quit dairying and raised beef cattle and I 



