26 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



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and find you not one example along that line, but literally 

 thousands. I fully appreciate, as any sensible man must, 

 that agriculture has been going through a period of depres- 

 sion. The farmer's dollar has not been as big as the dollar 

 in the city, so to speak, but we have got things that are 

 encouraging. The farmer's dollar went down to 67 cents 

 at its low ebb, it has now gone up to 87 cents. It did reach 

 93. We are on the way, and if we can keep the men away 

 who would tinker and administer medicine to our industry 

 just a little while longer, we will be back on the same basis 

 as other industries, and if we direct ourselves to the con- 

 sideration of those things within our own power to correct, 

 we will bring it about much faster than we can today. In- 

 stead of looking elsewhere to save ourselves, let us look 

 strictly to ourselves, and ask the government to give us 

 laws that will take care of our industry on the same basis 

 that all others are taken care of. 



What the land needs in this country is more legumes. 

 What our dairy cattle in particular need is more legume 

 hay, more protein. The by-products of the mills in com- 

 parison with the amount of feed used on the farm is a mere 

 bagatelle. It fills in places here and there where there is 

 a shortage, where crops may be poor or where a man has 

 not made quite calculation enough to carry his herd through 

 the winter. It comes in in making better balanced rations 

 during all the years, but if we, the dairymen of this coun- 

 try, were to go out and ask for by-products to balance our 

 rations, the old cow would hardly know she was getting 

 any by-products. It is that little in comparison with the 

 millions of tons needed to feed her properly. 



Some people think that the price of dairy products are 

 not high enough, and instead of looking to the increase in 

 production of their cows, making them more efficient, as I 

 pointed out, that they have got to get more money. I think 

 myself, when you consider the food value of milk, that it 

 has never brought as much money as it should, or the food 

 value of cheese or butter, but we have got to get in the 

 mind of the consumer that our products are worth more to 

 him than he now holds them to be. 



