ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. i5£ 



Another very common and expensive mistake is allowing the cows 

 to stand out in the cold, burning the food to furnish heat for the body 

 that might have been used to stimulate a larger flow of milk. Except- 

 ing the mistake of feeding uninteiligently, there is probably no greater 

 error committed among the average dairymen than employing cows as 

 unfit for the business of producing milk, as the cumbersome slow moving, 

 stage coach of a half century ago would be at the present day, com- 

 peting with our splendidly equipped railway service, transporting the 

 hustling business world from place to place with lightning speed. 



Four years ago in the writer's barn in Minnesota were two cows^. 

 whose names were respectively LiHie and Midget, each occupying ZVz 

 feet of floor space, consuming practically the same food and receiving the 

 same care. Midget produced 384 pounds of butter which sold for $96. 

 Lillie produced 240 pounds which sold for $60. In one year the former 

 produced $36 more than the latter, and at the same ratio, Midget will pro-^ 

 duce in ten years $360 more than Lillie. With twenty such cows in tea 

 years the herd would produce $7,200 in, excess of the same number like 

 the poorer cow. These are facts astounding as they are, that exist on 

 nearly every farm. We all know in the flight of years how quickly a de- 

 cade is gone. Some who sit before the speaker today, can recall the time 

 when the flrst little bud of humanity was ushered into the farm home 

 and how soon he was 10, nay more, in what an incredible short time he 

 was 20 years old, and while this rushing mighty river of time impels us on 

 to an age of sorrow and dependeuce or of ease and affluence, will be deter- 

 mined by the exercise of intelligence in our work, or the carelessness an^ 

 indifference we display in the exercise of our duty toward providing for 

 the comfort and welfar^of our herds. 



An example like the one cited from the writer's experience, means 

 $14,400 in twenty years with a herd of twenty cows, or the same constant 

 application and hard work with $14,400 less than might been obtained 

 for a competency in the declining years of life. 



Another source of failure to produce milk cheaply and an ecxtrava- 

 gance in which nearly all farmers indulge, is neglecting to provide a 



