ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 135 



up to do the things people expected of you and do the best you 

 could. 



Selecting and breeding dairy cows. I believe it to be one 

 of the most important branches of dairying. When we consider 

 that at St. Louis, in the dairy test there, that the cost of feed* 

 between the best and poorest Jerseys amounted to a little over 

 $2.00. I don't mean the cost of production, the value of the 

 product amounted to but little over $2.00, which would cost 

 $25.00 as a difference in feed, and the same rule not only held 

 with the Jerseys but the Holsteins and with the Guernseys and 

 every other breed on exhibition there. It seems to me that any- 

 thing that can be said or done that will encourage the dairymen 

 to put some system in operation on his farm which will enable 

 him to select out the poor cows from the good, will be of great 

 benefit to dairying. 



I want to apologize to you for not being prepared with a 

 paper upon this subject. I have here just a few notes that I must 

 talk from, and I am afraid that I cannot do the subject justice. 



The value of a dairy cow depends on three things. First, 

 the quantity of milk she yields in a year, or during her period of 

 lactation. Second, the percent of butter fat and other solids which 

 she puts in that milk, and, third, the cost of keep. 



We have given up the idea that we can select profitable 

 dairy cows by their form. We make mistakes -when we select 

 them by their form. I will admit that we can go into a miscella- 

 neous lot of cattle and select the beef cows from the dairy cows, 

 but when you have divided them into these two classes, then I 

 don't believe we are wise enough to go into a herd of dairy cows 

 and select out the profitable from the unprofitable. I heard an 

 illustration of that. C. B. Smith of the Michigan Agricultural 

 College, you probably knew him. He is a practical dairyman, 

 brought up on a farm in New York state. He came clown to my 

 farm at one time. We went into a back pasture to look at some 

 Jersey heifers. I said to him, " Pick out the one that will make 

 the best cow." He shook his head and said, " I can't do it." 

 " Two or three years ago I could have done it, but I don't know 



