140 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



could do nothing under the dairy law, the same under the new 

 dairy law which would better encourage dairying than to advocate 

 co-operation. At a meeting of our State Dairymen's Association 

 up at the little town in the northern part of Michigan, this sub- 

 ject was discussed there. The people up there seemed ripe for 

 something of the kind. The secretary of the meeting appointed 

 the time and I believed it a practical idea, and I believe that we 

 can do something at Fremont. A short time after that, in Sep- 

 tember, we received word from the people up there, asking for 

 some one to assist in organizing a dairy test association. They 

 appointed an inspector who had had practical work in this system 

 and who went up there two days and organized the first dairy 

 test association in America. Since that time another one has 

 been organized at my home town, but there is one in practical 

 operation in Fremont. They were fortunate in getting a man 

 for official tester who had been in Denmark, a Norwegian. The 

 dairy food department asked that a record of the proceedings 

 and of the work of each one of the associations be filed in the 

 department at Lansing. They have agreed to send inspectors 

 whenever they can be helpful. The other day, when I was in 

 the Dairy and Food office, the records from this association at 

 Fremont came in the office. I was interested in it. It was com- 

 piled largely from copy used in Denmark. In one particular herd 

 up there the man had figures of test of cows, weight of milk, esti- 

 mate cost of feed, and had figured out the cost of the production 

 of a pound with each individual in that herd. I remember but 

 two of them. One cow was producing butter for 11 cents a 

 pound, and another cow in the same herd was producing butter 

 at 45 cents a pound. It is very evident to me, I would rather 

 buy a heifer calf from the cow capable of producing butter for 

 11 cents than the one at 45 cents a pound. 



In this question of breeding, I presume I am taking too much 

 time. You don't know where to stop on these subjects. I will 

 make this short, there is something good ahead. The great law 

 of breeding is that " like begets like." There is another, a 

 notion or maybe a law. A great many practical breeders believe 



