ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



ever, that will yield but little milk and take on flesh regardless of 

 how the ration is balanced, and while the composition of the feed 

 has a great influence even with such animals, they should be 

 eliminated from the herd for they will be found wanting in the 

 balance, and so the importance of closer selection is suggested. 

 The dairy farmer has a friend for his financial advancement in 

 the typical dairy cow, and he has two more friends in the Babcock 

 tester, which should be frequently used, and the scales that hang 

 in the cow barn, which with a little mathematical calculation, will 

 show the money earning capabilities of the different members of 

 the herd, aid in drawing the line between profit and loss, and 

 afford advantages in weeding out and selection that we can not 

 well do without. It is simply a business proposition for the dairy 

 farmer to know with which of his cows he can exchange food 

 stuffs for her milk with a margin of profit to himself. 



The prevailing prices of dairy products in the United States 

 during the past decade has stimulated our dairy industry, but on 

 the other hand the corresponding high prices for our concen- 

 trated food stuffs, has, for a wider margin of profit, made the 

 matter of closer selection and improved capacity in the dairy 

 cow imperative. 



I ha\^e spoken in flattering terms of the dairy cow and her 

 relation to agricultural advancement and prosperity, but even if 

 every farmer in America wished to engaged in the dairy business, 

 this fact would not increase the number of existing cows, and if 

 every dairyman wished to purchase better ones, it would not 

 increase the number of good cows a single animal, and since selec- 

 tion only tends to weed out the poor ones, if there is to be any 

 general improvement in dairy function it must come through 

 breeding as a means of grading up. 



I believe it both possible and practical within a very short 

 time, with proper care, the more liberal and intelligent use of 

 food stuffs, and the use of the pure bred sire of some of the 

 distinct dairy breeds upon the milking herds of this country, for 

 the dairy farmer to materiallv increase our milk, butter and 



