ILLINOIS dairymen's ASSOCIATION. 13^ 



dews of heaven, and made a luxuriant growth, from which the cow has been 

 able to obtain sufficient nutriment to give a large flow of milk, suitable for 

 both butter and cheese making. 



The winter is now being ushered in with sufficiency of good hay in store, 

 and, where the dairymen have been considerate enough to cut up and care 

 for their own corn stalks,which,by the way, partially supply the loss in the corn 

 crop, containing, as they do, about 3.2 albuminoids and 45.9 carbhydrates, 

 while the ear of corn is said to contain 23.8 of the albuminoids and 51.2 carb- 

 hydrates. The foregoing, together with a full crop of oats, which have 

 proven to be one of the best milk-producing cereals known to the dairyman, 

 when properly mixed with a moderate amount of corn meal. Kow, if the 

 above be con ect, the dairymen of this vicinity are in a fair condition to enter 

 upon a winter of comparative severity. 



It is generally concf^ded that scientific researches have lagged behind 

 with the tillers of the soil. We can but hope that it is now beijinning to be 

 discovered that its greatest mission is with the dairy farmer, or agricultur- 

 ist, who stands in need of a better kno ^vledge in this, to ihem, most ioapor- 

 tant point in their calling. They should study to know just when and what 

 to feed their soil to insure the best results upon a certain crop which they are 

 about to plant on the same. 



I do not pr<-'sume to say that our dairy farmf^rs are not as well posted in 

 what they undertake to do on their farms as those of other sections of this 

 great union, but I do most emp latically say that, at the present day, much 

 is being, and much more may be l^ar^ed, in regard to the soil, and the tillage 

 of the s-ime, for the various uses to which it may be put. 



Kow, that I may be fully understood on this sut>3ect, you will please allow 

 me to relate a little incident which occurred und^r my own observation, 

 nearly a quarter of a century Hgo. I had a gripe vine ia my gai den, which 

 grew luxuriantly and produced more or less fruit, but prone to abort. Some 

 of the fruit decayed on the vine ; others fell to the ground before maturity. 

 This was not pleasant, and I applied to a horticulturist to learn ihe cause 

 and remedy. He looked at the vine, and said there was too much foliage on 

 it, and that by plucking some of the leaves and allowing the sun to the fruit 

 would relieve the trouble, in his opinion. This was tried without the least 

 improvement. Another srentleman suggested short pruning, which was also 

 tried, with no better result than the leaf picking. 



In looking up the composition of the grape, I found this fruit contained 

 a large amount of phosphate of lime. This gave origin to a new idea, which 

 was that the soil required phosphate of lime in order to perfect the fruit of 

 the grape, which ultimately proved true. Acting upon this suggestion, I 

 forked in some bone dust, and had no further abortion in the grape, the fruit 

 being much larger and finer in quality. This idea iu regard to the abortion 

 of the grape suggested another in regard to that disease in the cow of the 

 dairy. 



Believing, as I do, that there is a much closer relation existing between 

 the animal and vegetable kingdoms than is generally conceded, I resolved to 

 try the bone dust on my cows, and I may here be allowed to say either that 

 or something else has produced a most happy effect in this respect. In my 

 judgment, this result is attributable to the use of the phosphate of lime con- 

 tained in the ground bones, as I have used no other remedial agent. 



