FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION 187 



he will find there is no better business than farming. The first 

 thing a man wants to do on a farm is to learn to finance his 

 business; that will put a man on his feet quicker than anything 

 else he can do. You know how much you have invested in the 

 farm ; figure your interest, add taxes and what it costs to run 

 the fann and see what the total is. Take this total from your 

 receipts and see what your profits are. Learn to finance your 

 fanii; that will put confidence in you and in your business. 



Next, put the cow on the same basis and see what she 

 does. With us, we are all dairymen in Elgin. We used to 

 grow wheat and kept on until we had to turn to dairying and 

 we are in the dairy business still. Our land is as good as yours 

 here. We have built up one of the finest dairy sections on 

 earth, the fame of which is world-wide. You won't find a 

 better dairy section anywhere than about Elgin, — good roads, 

 good houses, good barns, etc. You take any section where 

 dairy farming is practiced and you will find prosperity. Den- 

 mark was at one time nearly bankrupt and the dairy cows made 

 it one of the most prosperous countries in the world. See 

 what it has done in Wisconsin, Men come from all parts of 

 the country to buy cows there. There is one county in Wis- 

 consin, Green county, 24 miles square, where they have a popu- 

 lation of 23,000 people, and in that one county they have 160 

 cheese factories, 3 creameries, and 3 condenseries. Last year 

 the dairy farmers sold almost 4 million dollars' worth of their 

 products. Here is a concentration of the milk industry in all 

 its phases that can't be beat anywhere in the United States. 

 You can do the same here. You talk about your high-priced 

 land; that is why you can get better results. There are greater 

 prospects in dairying than any other industry in the country. 



We started in Northern Illinois with our native cows and 

 practiced summer dairying. Our factories ran through the sum- 

 mer and closed down in the winter. Later we developed into 

 winter dairying; and probably two-thirds of the milk today is 

 made during the winter season. By having the cows freshen 

 in September and October, the milk flow will be greater and 

 miore plentiful when the prices are highest and profits the great- 

 est, and it is the profits we are all looking for in the dairy 

 business. 



