DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



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small general farmer and applies in principle to the farmer in the corn 

 belt as well as to the farmer of the Plains. I am not on this occasion dis- 

 cussing specialized dairying. The man who has an eighty or a quarter- 

 section of land — the man who needs money each week throughout the year — 

 the man who cannot, without incurring debt, wait for the twice-a-year mar- 

 keting of hogs or the once-a-year marketing of grain or cattle — is the man 

 who most needs to milk a few cows. These are the men to whom I would 

 point the advantages of cow-milking, and from whose viewpoint I will 

 discuss the essential fundamentals for profitable milking and feeding of 

 cows. 



Farm dairying for the rank and file of farmers everywhere, should be 

 considered from the standpoint of its relation to good farm organization. 

 The most profitable farm organization is a matter of so correlating the 

 several almost inseparable farm industries that the land will be used for 

 those purposes to which it is best adapted, keeping in mind the help avail- 

 able, the profitable utilization of labor throughout the year and the financial 

 demands of the owner. Well balanced farm organization is the one out- 

 standing essential to the improvement of farm conditions. I view farm 

 dairying from the standpoint of its being an important factor in the execu- 

 tion of farm plans which will provide insurance against the unprofitable- 

 ness of the so-called lean years, and such as will result in a greater profit 

 to the best of the good years, and a weekly succession of cash income every 

 year. 



Milking a few good cows should be considered primarily and upon 

 introduction into the general farm scheme, from the standpoint of supplying 

 the necessary available capital for the conduct of the farm and for the living 

 expenses of the family. If you will observe, you will find that the man 

 who has been giving fairly good care to a few good cows, feeding them 

 with reasonable intelligence, for a period of ten or twelve years as an 

 adjunct to good general farming, is the man who is not worrying about 

 the source of cash for his immediate needs and who will suffer least, and 

 will not be put out of business by the unavoidable occasional short crop 

 year. There is a preponderance of evidence showing how milking cows 

 improves the farmer's financial condition — and let me say that this is true 

 almost regardless of the kind of cow milked or the actual percent of profit 

 in dairying. 



In. the beginning, it is not a question of whether the cow is of dairy 

 breeding or a "scrub" — using the term "scrub" in contradistinction to the 

 cow which carries dairy blood and so has been bred for milk produc- 

 tion. It is the sale of milk or cream three or four times a week and the cash 

 in hand with which to buy the groceries, the wearing apparel, the nails, 

 bolts and hinges, to pay for the plow sharpening, the harness and wagon 

 repairs, that makes the milking of cows worth the while to the small 

 general farmer, and without regard as to whether the income from the 

 cream or milk sold returns a reasonable profit in excess of the feed con- 

 sumed and the labor involved. It is the prompt cash payment of the far- 

 mer's bills and the consequent absence of accumulating bills, that makes 



