Thirty-fourth Annual Convention. ^^'^ 



The outlook for the future of the rolhng land is certainly not 

 a hopeful one under the present most common systems of man- 

 agement, or more properly of mismanagement. Increasing pov- 

 erty will be the future of the owners of this land unless a radical 

 change in methods takes place. It is not an expensive process 

 to protect and improve these soils, but it becomes relatively more 

 expensive as time goes on, because the people will be less able to 

 do it. Sad, indeed, is the prospect before the boys and girls of 

 these lands when their only inheritance is a ruined hillside farm. 



cows TEST ASSOCIATION. 



Secretary George Caven. 



The importance of some movement that will induce dairy- 

 men to go more into cow testing and thus learn which of their 

 cows are profitable and which are not, is fully appreciated by the 

 officers of the Illinois State Dairymen's Association. A good 

 share of the program at the Marengo convention was given over 

 to this subject. The dairy department at the University has 

 given thus subject much attention and for some years has had 

 men in the field testing herds and showing dairymen the neces- 

 sity of knowing just what each cow is doing. 



In Michigan great advancement has been made in this line 

 by forming cow testing associations; and these associations are 

 proving successful. In Wisconsin also the cow testing associa- 

 tions are growing. The Wisconsin Dairymen's Association has 

 one man in the field who gives all his time to the forming of 

 these associations. 



Illinois should get into the cow testing association class. 

 There is no better way to advance dairying and teach dairymen 

 that dairying is highly profitable if correctly followed. 



To show How these associations are managed we are quoting 

 from a bulletin recently issued by the Dairy Department of 

 Michigan. It opens with ''Some notes on co-operative cow 

 testing in Denmark and Sweden" and follows with an explana- 

 tion of the plan now being followed in Michigan. From the 

 bulletin we take the following: 



