VoL. LXXVII. 
Published Weekly at 333 W. 30th St.. 
New york. Price One Dollar a Year. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 24, 1918. 
Entered as Second Class Matter at New York 
under the Act of Congress, March 3, 1879. 
No. 4496. 
The Hope For Dairying 
Lies In Keeping Better Cows 
XISTING CONDITIONS.—The daiiTiii.!? iiulii.s- 
try of Now York State, or for that matter, any 
other State, is divided into two parts;—tliose in it 
who make a comfortable livelihood, from their cows, 
f.nd those who don’t. Tlicre are still allogetlier too 
many dairy farmers about the country wlio keep 
their cows instead of 
insisting that the 
herd keep tliem—a 
condition which is 
to a great degree re¬ 
sponsible for the big 
and little mortgages 
which hang over 
every other farm 
like the jiroverbial 
death and taxes. 
CHANGING CON¬ 
DITIONS. — In the 
dairying job. as in 
every other l)ig job, 
the world moves on. 
The men who .still 
believe that “cows 
are cows.” and what 
was good enough in 
the cattle line for 
grandfather, i.s good 
enough today for 
them are quite aiit 
to find themselves 
wondering where the 
next interest money 
is coming from. Some¬ 
one has said that 
among the many re¬ 
forms and benefits 
resulting from this 
war. not the least of 
these will bo the ne¬ 
cessity on the part 
of a few thousand 
“s c r u b-owners” of 
disposing of their in¬ 
adequate herds, for 
it is the irony of fate 
that only the fittest 
shall survive the.se 
troublesome days in 
the cow kingdom as 
in all other things. 
It would undoubtedly 
prove a blessing in 
disguise to many dis¬ 
couraged, unsuccess¬ 
ful dairymen who 
are, to no avail, try¬ 
ing to cope with 
modern dairying 
conditioms, if they 
were forced willy- 
nilly to send their cow-boarders to the block. 
NEEDS OF THE TIMES.—The jol) of dairying 
today requires a lot of close figuring to keep it 
afioat. The man who dairies it “by guess and by 
gosh” is doomed in nine cases out of ten for a 
mortgage procedure. The man who is doughtily 
weathering the storms of high-cost feed, scarce and 
expensive labor and low dairy-produce prices on 
the other hand is the one who combines etliciency, 
brains and high producing and proven cows. These 
men are supplying the country today with the bulk 
of its milk, cheese and l)utter, and are paying them¬ 
selves a small and legitimate salary for their xaiins, 
which, after present cliaotic conditions are past, 
should correspond with the salaries received hy 
executives in our other leading industries, or the 
cow will perish from the face of tlie earth. 
A HIIARE OF I’ROSl’ERITY.—9'he modern dairy- 
farmer who lias succeeded the scriili-keeper is not 
content with miserable little dividends and the 
struggle to make both ends meet which wore his 
forbears into an early grave. He rightly demands 
his share of fair prosperity in return for a lifetime 
spent at hard lalior. If he does not demand this, he 
lacks vision and desire, and he himself will be 
the one to blame for keeping on the dairy treadmill 
without suitable recompense. The dairy farmers 
who lead the industry toda.v, whose names are house¬ 
hold words, whose families live in comfortable, mod¬ 
ern homes, and whose cattle are housed in sanitary, 
commodious style, are not only dairymen; tliey are 
also breeders of purebred .stock. It has been con- 
clu.sively demonstrated that blue-blooded cattle pay. 
4'hon it would seem that one amswer to more dairy¬ 
ing profits lies in a pedigreed herd, if that herd is 
also an ex(‘ollent producing herd to boot. 
I’UllERRED HERDS.—There is one stipulation, 
however. If a man is not a natural hand witli 
cow.s. if ho has never been able to half-way succeed 
in times past with an ordinary herd, it is probalde 
that ho also might 
fail with purebreds. 
IMany people think 
th.at they must ]ios- 
.sess a small fortune 
to get started with 
purebred cattle. Tliat 
is indeed one way 
and without doubt 
the quickest, but few 
average farmers who 
mainly rely on a 
small herd for a liv¬ 
ing have much cap¬ 
ital to invest all at 
once in a new lot of 
cows. If a man has 
owned “scrub.s”—has 
gravitated from 
scrubs to “grades.” 
and finally has made 
up his mind that the 
liest in milk-produc¬ 
ing animals are in 
the end the cheapest, 
then he is ready to 
sell off his present 
herd altogether, or 
work his way step 
by step until he has 
eliminated everything 
but registered stock. 
This is the method 
most commonl.v prac¬ 
ticed by three-quar¬ 
ters of the purebred 
cattle owners today, 
and in five years’ 
time a grade dairy 
has usually been 
changed for a reg¬ 
istered. 
GETTING A 
8 T A R T.—In every 
cattle community 
there are a hand fid 
of I>reeders who 
should be ready and 
anxious to hel]) the 
new I»eginnor .secui-e 
his start. The.v 
should call it good 
I»usinoss to sell him 
ills foundation animal 
or animals at mod¬ 
erate prices, and see to it that he sets out on the 
right track for ultimate succes.s. There is nothing 
more contagious than the purebred cattle fever if 
the older breeders aid and encourage the new ones. 
The former are models, teachers and friends when 
they do their part. ’There is no happier moment in 
a true dairyman’s exp'erience tlian when he leads 
liome his first i-egistered cow', bull or calf. There is 
something vastly more interesting and satisfying in 
studying the purebretl than ever was to be derived 
from working with a grade or scnib. She is cap- 
