128 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



poor COWS and keep the good cows. I asked Mr. Glover if he 

 would not test my cows. He said: "I have more than I can 

 handle but I have an assistant and I hope he will be able to get 

 around and test your cows." I did not hear anything more until 

 the next fall when he said he would come. What I want to give 

 you this morning are some actual facts, tell you what I have 

 started and what I have done in six years. There is not a man 

 here who cannot do just as well as I did if he applies himself. 

 I want to give you some figures, I am not going to tell you any- 

 thing that I cannot substantiate. I have lived here for ten years, 

 the first four years I did not keep a record, but I did keep track 

 of the milk checks. Up to six years ago I had all of the milk 

 checks, then I transferred those accounts into a book. 



There is certainly a vast difference between keeping a cow 

 at a loss and keeping one at a profit of $30.00. But why do we 

 keep a cow that does not produce a profit at all ? Simply because 

 we cannot always distinguish the poor cow from the good one. 

 Too many dairymen are content if their herds return a small 

 profit while, if they would see the low producers, the profits of 

 the herd would be materially increased. We have too many poor 

 cows in our herds who are consuming the profits of the good 

 cows and thereby reducing the profits of the entire herd. It is 

 possible that all of the cows in Illinois be made to yield a profit 

 of $30.00 per cow instead of only one- fourth of them. This may 

 seem too high to be reached by all the dairymen of Illinois, but 

 it can be done if only the dairymen will wake up to the situa- 

 tion. 



In order to accomplish this we must weed out the poor cows. 

 Feed the good cows a balanced ration, and breed for better cows 

 by heading our herds with the best sires obtainable. 



How can we detect the poor cow in our herds? Is it pos- 

 sible to distinguish a good cow from a poor one by outward ap- 

 pearances? Not always. There is but one absolutely reliable 

 way and that is by using the scales and the Babcock test. A pair 

 of scales, some half pint bottles, some corrosive sublimate tablets 

 for preserving the samples, and some milk sheets do not cost 

 much, and if properly used will return many times their cost in 



