96 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



I think it generally conceded that with all domestic animals the condi- 

 tions of age, flesh, disposition, exposure etc., being the same, the amount of 

 keep required is very nearly in exact ratio to their weigh£. While this rule 

 may have many exceptions as to individuals, it is true regarding races. 



Coming now to the more difficult aud as yet undetermined question, 

 do larger cows yield as much milk, butter and cheese one or all, as small 

 ones? 



It would seem that the dairymen of Illinois have a right to and do expect 

 an intelligent and decisive answer to this question from repeated tests right 

 here where ample means have been provided. It will hardly be expected 

 that any private individual will have, or can,so thoroughly experiment as to 

 satisfactorily answer this and very many other questions of vast importance 

 to the dairy interest. 



Mr. President, while I may not be losing faith in tests and experiments, 

 I am coming to have more in the results of personal observation of careful, 

 painstaking men, men freed from the bias of self-interest, men who are wil- 

 ling to help their fellows by exchanging the results of their observations be- 

 cause they have something to say, rather than a desire to say something. 

 Holding to this view I have tried in a small way to collect and compare the 

 result of some observations in the dairy region about Elgin. 



Of several breeds competing for excellence, the writer has had but little 

 acquaintance except with the Holstein, Ayreshire and Jerseys, though an 

 experience of several years with a family of Short-Horns was eminently sat- 

 isfactory. Of these the milk of the Jersey seems particularly adapted to 

 butter making, giving it a fine color. So marked is this characteristic that a 

 few cows in a dairy will impart to the whole product a desirable tint. While 

 ajlimited number of these might be desirable for a;:strictly butter dairy it is 

 quite doubtful if a considerable number would be profitable in the hands of 

 the ordinary dairy farmer. 



The Holstein or Dutch cattle which seem to be growing in popularity 

 just now are large heavy cattle, somewhat inclined to coarseness and require 

 a full supply of succulent food. While conceded to be the heaviest milkers, 

 their milk does not yield so large a per cent of butter as a rule, but seems to 

 be particularly adapted to cheese, and are to be commended where feed is 

 abundant and a large flow of milk or yield of cheese is desired. Of the list 

 enumerated the Ayrshires seem to most completely fill the bill, where both 

 butter and cheese are desired— being of fair size and easy keepers ; they may 

 be readily converted into beef of fair quality. There is this objection, es- 

 pecially where men do the milking. As a rule the teats are short ; but 

 judicious breeding will greatly obviate this objection. Having determined 

 the breed best adapted to the end sought, nothing is of greater importance 

 than singleness of purpose. Let purity and excellence be the guiding star of 

 the breeder. I^owhere should the survival of the fittest more markedly 

 obtain. 



True, by painstaking a very excellent herd may be obtained even among 

 native or common stock, and to some extent may the good qualities be trans- 

 mitted to descendents, but the element of uncertainty will prevail to a 

 far greater extent than where recourse is had to pure blood as the foundation. 



