ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 85 



't- 

 is not an expensive item. Often one line of tile is all that will be required in 

 crossing a 40 acre lot, that is, commencing at the head of a ravine, and follow- 

 ing its course across such a piece of ground, will put the whole in shape to be 

 plowed. 



"We may now consider the farm drained, and ready for a diagram to show 

 prospective crops for a series of years. 



Before proceeding I wish to say a few words in parenthesis. I do not 

 accuse farmers of any lack in laying plans, by no means ; nor of any lack of 

 making good plans. On the contrary, plans are made without number or 

 measure, all of them good, no doubt ; but few, if any, are carried out or carried 

 forward more than one or two years before new ones are made. I once, on an 

 occasion not unlike the present, ground out a fable. I will repeat it with some 

 alterations. 



Once on a time, two dogs went out to hunt game. To all appearances they 

 were very much alike in speed and endurance. The first struck a track and 

 started in to pursue the game with great vigor, making the woods and fields 

 resound with his loud baying, so that listeners near and far said, "That dog 

 has a good thing." Directly he discovered another track that looked to him 

 fresher or larger game ; so he switched himself off to the new track, and howled 

 louder than before. Again and again he repeated this operation, pursuing 

 fresh game all the time, till, at night, he went home tired and disappointed, say- 

 ing, "No dog can catch such game." The second also struck a track, and 

 followed it without much racket, and without changing his purpose, till early 

 in the day the game was caught, and he went home to spend the afternoon in 

 quiet and happiness. 



We often meet men who have tried this, that and the other branch of farm- 

 ing, who will tell you that these are the hardest times ; that this is the worst 

 country ; that farming is the hardest and least paying business, etc. 



It would seem to me to be folly to say that we give too little attention to 

 raising horses, hogs, sheep or cattle ; or that we raise too little corn, oats, rye 

 or barley, as the case may be. Enough being raised for the market proves my 

 position. There seems to be a cyclone of these ideas sweeping over the 

 country periodically, and many farmers trim their sails as often, for any gale 

 that may come along. By this practice we invest in one kind of stock, or one 

 branch of farming, when everything pertaining to that branch is high, and go 

 out when it is low, always meeting a loss. Then the loss on tools and 

 machinery bought and used one or more years, and then laid aside, (something 

 having been met that promises better,) if computed, would make an item start- 

 ling to behold. Therefore I would say, inasmuch as this changing of plans by 

 most enterprising farmers has been to themselves a cause of great loss, make 

 your plans and stand by them. 



In mapping out the farm with a view to a system of rotation of crops, much 

 will, of course, depend on the crops the farmer expects to raise, and the stock 

 he expects to grow. 



For ten years, as many of you know, the author of this paper was manager 

 of the farm of the then Illinois Industrial University, now Illinois State 

 University. I will give the plan of crops there adopted, which was not changed 

 in the time mentioned. The rotation was sometimes set back a year on account 



