ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



107 



advanced wonderfully. When I left the farm, I thought I never wanted 

 to see a cow again; I certainly never wanted to milk one. Those were 

 my feelings on leaving the farm. But when I heard Mr. Gurler speak 

 of his stables with the cement fl oors that were washed out every day, 

 and could not detect the least odor, I could imagine that dairying may be 

 a great deal pleasanter, and a g reat deal nicer, than years ag'o. The 

 dairymen have certainly made a great advance in the right direction. 



In my talk today of cows, I w ill, of necessity, have to refer to beef 

 cattle. That is my hobby; that is my business, and in my talks hereto- 

 fore I have been talking in the south part of the state where there is 

 little dairying, and the types of dairy cattle are exceedingly poor. I felt 

 that when I come here that it is a different thing, and I will have to be- 

 more careful and more guarded i n what I say. 



In the first place, if we are go ing into business of any kind, we must 

 have a plan and a purpose. We want to know what we are going into 

 the business for; what we are going to accomplish, and all about it. For 

 then we may ask ourselves this question: "Why do we want stock on 

 the farm?" It is not for the dollars and cents or the immediate profit 

 that we can make out of it, as I take it, although Immediately if we ask 

 that question of the majority of the farmers they would simply say, "as> 

 a means of making money" immediately. But that is not the real and 

 only object. There is another. The soil must be maintained and set up^ 

 and I know of no other way by w hich they can do it without the use of 

 livestock in some of its forms. Why I obtained such a dislike for dairying 

 in my earlier days — well I must admit that dairying is the highest type- 

 of stock farming there is, because the dairyman who only sells his butter, 

 his cream, or his milk off the far m is retaining nothing. There is al- 

 most nothing in the shape of fertility contained in the butter, cream, 

 and milk. Dairying is the highest type of stock farming I know of any- 

 where. There is great necessity, and it is the first consideration, the soil- 

 Now then, Illinois is naturall y very fertile, its s'oil is very rich, and 

 we have been careless of this ma iter of fertility. They have raised 

 wheat, grain, and com, and the result is you have sent away largely of the- 



