1^6 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



Real skill and' improvement consists in making the most of what 

 •we have. If the dairyman does not own a herd of high gradle profitable 

 4airy oows, his paramount duty i s to secure the service of dairy bred sire 

 of the highest obtainable individual excellence and' from the best half 

 of his! herd! raise a higth grade profitable herd; If he does not know what 

 crops* to grow best suited to the prod^uction of milk and for keeping up 

 the milk flow during the cold of winter and the drouth of summer 

 alike; if he does not know how to compound a proper ration for his 

 •cows from the crops grown on his farm or from available substitutes, 

 which will enable the cow to pro-Ilice the maximan quantity of the 

 best miilk of which she Is capable, or the best ration for the proper and' 

 special development of a calf for a dairy cow, it isi essential that he 

 should learn how, because there is no more prolific source of waste and 

 failure than in improper feeding, whether the feeding be dlone for 

 making milk or for developing a dairy cow. Next in impoTtance after 

 the education andi training of the dairyman is the proper feeding and 

 training of the dairy: calf, for the calf is mother to the cow. 



[Permit the suggestion that in the great corn belt of the United 

 States, almost from necessity, so m'e form of Ind^ian cotu or corn meal 

 must form the basis of any econ omical milk inaking ration and very 

 properly so, both on account of its cheapness and abundance, and on ac- 

 count of its suitableness in combination with other foodis in forming the 

 Ibasis foT a balanced' milk makin g ration. 



Another matter of vital importance, especially this year when feed 

 is scarce and' costly, is the tendency which is quite universal, to feed too 

 sparingly. There is general complaint that there has been little if 

 any increase in the milk flow this fall, notwithstanding the weather has 

 TDeen very favorable. The f ailur e may be charged mainly to the fact that 

 the cows were allowed to shrink to a minimumimilk flow during the past 

 summer and are permanently injured until they freshen, and also be- 

 cause they are being f edl simply a m'aintenance ration instead of a full 

 balanced ration for milk making. Intelligent feeding, economical feed- 

 ing, is feeding to the normal cap acity of the cow. The normal capacity 



