108 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



fertility of your soil. It is not what is was twenty-five years ago, and if 

 the same process continues, it will be worse the next twenty-five years. 

 We must keep up the fertility of the farm. It is absolutely necessary and 

 those who prefer the dairy, I tell them it is the highest form of stock 

 -farming. 



But if we can not all be dairy farmers, there is the raising of beef and 

 mutton stock and horses and thin gs of that kind. They are the next best 

 thing as far as fertility is concerned. 



Some form of stock farming is the basis of permanent and successful 

 farming. There can be no questi on about this, and the only correct 

 theory of farming requires that the fertility of the land must be main- 

 tained. It is the farmer's capital. If you draw upon that capital, if you 

 unnecessarily exhaust the fertility of the soil you are soon^gtoing to ex- 

 haust your capital, and deserted farms will be the result, as in New Eng- 

 land today. When you go into the stock business you want to keep that 

 steadily in view. You are building up the fertility of the soil. 



Now then, if we decide to go into the stock business, the next thing is 

 ■what kind of stock shall we handle. You want to determine that. You 

 want to determine whether you want to make butter, ship milk to the city 

 markets; whether you want to make beef or mutton or pork; those 

 things must be determined first. 



Then study the different breeds of cattle and decide which is best for 

 the purpose you want. We have various breeds of cattle. For the dairy 

 people, the Jerseys, Holsteins, Alderneys, Guernseys, and others. Among 

 the beef cattle the Short Horns, Herefords, and so on. Among the various 

 breeds of dairy cattle I cannot say which is best. I could say inj beef cat- 

 tle. The breed you like best, tha t is best adapted to the purpose for 

 which wou want it, is the best. Always keep that in view. Decide 

 what you want and select the ani mals that will best carry out that ob- 

 ject. It is the same thing if you are going to raise horses. You want 

 to determine in the first place the kind, and whether for a buggy or the 

 race, or what kind of horse is good for heavy road work. It would be 

 folly to take one of the finely bred draft horses and expect to win money 

 on him. You must determine the se things before you go very far. 



