104 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



some day to assume the management. You have prepared a 

 business for them so that they can begin where you leave off. 

 Have you prepared them for the business so that in point of 

 knowledge they can begin at or near where your knowledge 

 ceases? On such a foundation their opportunities are infinite ,- 

 without it they are limited by the necessity of acquiring, through 

 experience and study, the knowledge and training which you 

 possess, before they can progress beyond the high mark you 

 have set. 



Right here it would seem is the greatest opportunity for im- 

 provement. Is it possible to more thoroughly prepare the boy 

 for the business of dairying and the business of life so that he 

 can in truth begin at or near the point where you leave off? If 

 it is, and I believe it is, there is a mine of improvement which 

 has as yet scarcely been opened. The big question is, how best 

 to go about the development of this mine so that it will yield 

 the greatest possible returns in advanced dairymen of tomorrow. 



Undoubtedly there are many methods which can be success- 

 fully used in the solution of this problem. In fact this must of 

 necessity be the case since no one method can be devised that 

 will successfully appeal to every boy. But every method that is 

 to be at all satisfactory must have its foundation on interest. 

 In other words, it must be one that will interest the Junior Dairy- 

 man, the boy of ten as well as the young man of sixteen or 

 eighteen, in the dairy business, its difficulties and its possibil- 

 ities. It is out of the question to expect success in anything of 

 anyone, boy or man, unless he is particularly interested in it. 

 Success in work or play is directly proportional to interest. 

 Therefore, if you wish your son to be a successful farmer, dairy- 

 man, and breeder of dairy cattle, you must, as I have said, gain 

 and hold his interest. Once this is accomplished the rest is easy. 



It is not enough that you teach a boy how to till the soil, 

 to milk, or to feed balanced rations. These things in themselves 

 are nothing more or less than plain, every day, hard work, some- 

 thing that will interest neither boy nor man. You are success- 

 ful dairymen and have done a great deal of hard work, but did 

 you do it merely because you like to work? Not at all. Work, 

 unless it leads to a desired end, is drudgery. All business is a 

 game and you have played the dairy game because you liked it 



