THIRTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL CONVENTION 267 



The method of handling cows practiced by most dairymen 

 in the dairy section of the state until very recently, tended to 

 decrease rather than to increase their productive capacity. Fresh 

 cows were brought from other sections into the neighborhood 

 of the creameries and were milked through the winter or as 

 long as they produced profitably without breeding, after which 

 they were sold for beef at a price often equal to the price paid 

 when fresh. The ease with which "red cows" could be pur- 

 chased in the neighboring sections and the relatively high price 

 paid for milk were responsible for this method, which kept 

 drawing the best cows from the surrounding country and send- 

 ing them to the slaughter house without leaving any progeny. 

 The real source was destroyed to supply the immediate demand. 

 If any were bred, the calves were killed or were sold for veal 

 as soon as possible after birth. This system discouraged, rather 

 than encouraged the breeding of good cattle within the dairy 

 districts ; consequently Illinois has a very small number of good, 

 pure-bred dairy cattle, when compared with some of the sur- 

 rounding states. The high prices recently prevailing, together 

 with the better knowledge of the real value of a good cow, are 

 forcing the dairymen to consider the problem of raising their 

 own cows. Along with this problem comes the conviction that, 

 where possible, it pays to raise pure-bred animals. 



Improvement by Careful Selection and Breeding. 



There are in Illinois over 1,000,000 cows used for dairy 

 purposes, of which not over two per cent are pure-bred, and of 

 only a fraction of one per cent have accurate records of produc- 

 tion been kept either officially or privately. Many dairymen are 

 now adding to their herds a few pure-bred animals as the be- 

 ginning of pure-bred herds, and still larger numbers are using 

 pure-bred sires on grade herds. These are certainly steps in the 

 right direction. Every possible means should be used to raise 

 the average production of dairy cows. Not all persons can have 

 pure-bred animals, but all can use good bulls to grade up their 

 herds, and one of the best ways to convince a man of the value 

 of well-bred stock is to demonstrate to him the effect of a pure 



