THIRTY-SIXTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. 271 



THE ILLINOIS COMPETITIVE COW TEST. 



By 

 C. C. Hayden. 



The dairy cow is the mother of the dairy industry, and 

 without good mothers the industry must fail. 



For years the IlHnois Agricultural Experiment Station has 

 been assisting dairymen throughout the state in keeping yearly 

 records of milk and butter fat produced by the individual cows 

 in their herds. A limited number of bulls have been loaned to 

 persons who have been keeping records, and in other ways all 

 possible has been done to encourage the breeding and rearing of 

 better cows, and better methods of feeding. As a result of this 

 work, some dairymen have increased the production of their 

 herds over 2,000 pounds of milk and 80 pounds of butter fat per 

 cow per year. This shows the value of knowing what the indi- 

 vidual cows in the herd are doing. 



In order to stimulate a more widespread interest in breeding, 

 and better methods of feeding, the Illinois Competitive Cow Test 

 has been arranged, and it is hoped that dairymen from all parts 

 of the state will take advantage of this opportunity to find out 

 what their cows are doing. In order to start this competition, 

 $1,000 has been contributed by Mr. Burridge D. Butler, Publisher 

 of the Prairie Farmer, of Chicago, as prizes for the cows pro- 

 ducing the largest amount of butter fat in one year. Other spe- 

 cial prizes have been offered, as shown on page 274. The object of 

 this circular is to explain the plan of, and give the rules govern- 

 ing this competition. 



Plan of Competition, 



Any cow% whether grade or pure-bred, owned by a resident 

 of Illinois, may be entered in this competition. Realizing that 

 manv of the best cows will not be in a condition to enter the test 



