ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



51 



Every farmer that owns land wants to own good land. He 

 not only wants to keep it good, but if he keeps pace with the 

 steps of progress, he should make it better and more productive. 

 The question today that confronts every farmer is, how can he 

 realize the most from the land and still keep up or increase the 

 fertility of the soil? By doing this is what makes land valuable 

 and profitable. 



Dairy farming offers a number of advantages over other 

 lines of agriculture. A very important matter is the keeping up 

 of the fertility of the soil, although usually the crops are culti- 

 vated and the products hauled off and sold. One-half adds to 

 the capital and the other takes from it. 



If stock is fed in the barns almost all the fertility is saved 

 and this w^ill help the farm. Feeding is usually done in open yards 

 and some of the fertility is left, w'hile if fed in the house it is 

 saved and hauled out to the fields and spread. 



In this business the market for your dairy product does not 

 fluctuate as much as other products. It makes steady employ- 

 ment for your labor the year around. We contract for the milk 

 six months in advance and you can tell any day what your ex- 

 penses are and what your income is and you can tell where you 

 are going to get off in the next six months. 



With this there should be better farming and more thorough 

 cultivation of the soil. You often see corn growing where the 

 land has produced twice as much when cared for than when not. 

 The trouble is the farmer tries to farm more than he can do 

 thoroughly. It is the small farms that pay better than the big 

 ones. He raises more crops and more stock to the acre than the 

 large ones. It is the same with the dairy business. A farm 

 with 50 to 150 cow^s will give better returns. In the small farm, 

 the land is all available and you can practice this soiling system 

 which is a saving of land and a saving of fencing and production 

 is more economical and conditions are better. It should inspire 

 confidence among you. Many of these large dairy farms that are 

 cut in two in the middle and put the same amount of work on 

 half as was being done on the whole would make better paying 



