236 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



DAIRYING A PROFITABLE BUSINESS. 



At a recent auxiliary convention held in Alma of the Michi- 

 gan Dairymen's Association, N. P. Hull, a practical and success- 

 ful dairyman, discussed dairying most interestingly and profit- 

 ably. He said : 



It is a fact that the majority of the cows in the state of Michi- 

 gan are not paying their owner for the feed they consume and 

 his time in growing that feed for them, but it is also a fact that 

 this ought not to be so and there is no reason why it is so except 

 the carelessness of the man handling and feeding the cow. No rea- 

 son in the world. Now my friend, whether you keep one cow or 

 many , let me ask you what in the world you keep that cow for, 

 unless she gives you something above the actual cost of feeding 

 and caring for her ? What excuse have you ? I have inquired ar 

 different times why should a man keep a cow, a pig or a hen un- 

 less he can make that animal pay a little more thn the cost of car- 

 ing for it? I don't want to set aside a part of my life putting it 

 into any business and find after I have finished that part that I 

 have nothing to show for it. I don't believe that you do, so what 

 little time I have today I want to take to apply as much to the man 

 who keeps one cow as to the man who keeps many. 



I want to speak briefly in regard to the advantages of the 

 dairy business, taken as a part of the legitimate farm operations. 

 No doubt some of the farmers here have been troubled with the 

 labor problem. It was a trouble to us upon our farm at one time 

 and a great many still say that is the great objection to dairying, 

 because they cannot get the help. I believe you will find that 

 the dairy business will help you with the labor proposition; if 

 you hire a good man you want to keep him. The man feeding 

 our cows today has been with us five years. Why were we able 

 to keep that man five years? He has a family, lives in a tene- 



