The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-04-14
agricultural department.
CONDUCTED BY ALBERT CHAPMAN,
OPPORTUNITIES AND REWARDS
ror he Application Of Brain Work TO
Dairy flaming.


~ noN. =. y. DOUGLAS, on WHITING.
Mental power and intelligence com.
manj a premium in all departments of
business. Mere physical force, combined
with low order of intellect. is cheap in
every market. That business which de.
mands high degree Of intellectual abili-
~, sound judgment, and intelligent en-.
terprise, usually pays him well who pos.
sesses these qualifications, and employs
them in lis development; but that occu.
patton which calls for little more than
mere brute force in its pursuit usually
yields but moderate return for the ser.
vices of those who engage in it, and is
looked uron as mental and degrading
He who can successfully conduct an ex-
tensive railroad, manufacturing. mining,
or other like enterprise, will command a
high salary, and it will be paid with
profit by his employers, though he may
put little physical force into their bust
ness. It is his mental power and inteli-
gent application Tor which they pay
There are certain calings which do not
admit of an extensive application of
mental power. In such cases, the COM
pensatioD received by those who engage
in them is comparatively small. An in
telligent wood.chopper or ditcher will
command higher wages than one who is
stupid, bectuse he will accomplish more
with the same physical force, and do his
work better. But owing to the nature Of
the business, physical force must be his
chief reliance for success, and he cannot
command high salary for such service,
because that class of labor is cheap, and
less remunerative than that of a more
intellectual nature.
The rewards OF business will, as a gen.
eral rule, be in proportion to the amount
of brain work which is put to it. This
is emphatically true OF the business of the
dairyman There are few calings which
yield better return for mental applica-
tion than this 1t may be conducted a.
IA loss, even whore an unnecessary amount
of physical force is put into it or with
less Of this and more intelligence, it ma
be made to yield better pccuniary returns
in proportion to The money invested than
almost any other Legitimate business pur.
sued among us. am aware that this is
not in accordance with the common be-
lief. The time was when it was thought
that my blockhcad who had not brains
enough to succeed at anything else could
succeed as farmer and a dairyman. But
let US not deceive ourselves longer in re.
gard to this matter.
Success in dairy enterprise in Vermont
depends more upon mental po1rer and
educated skill than upon any othc. Goa.
sideration Let me illustrate by citing
practical facts which have actually oc-
Cured here in Vermont during the past
season, and thus present the two ex-
tremes as of practice in dairy farming
among US, viz: That practice where ply.
steal force is relied upon for success, and
its opposite, where an intelligent enter
prise is made to prcdominate. These
examples are taken from practice in the
department of the butter dairy.
Examples of the former class may be
found in almost every dairy community.
Men who toll early and late, who labor
in the fields until dark, and then milk
their cows when they should be at rest !;
who seem TO think that what they thus
get out Of themselves, their families, and
their help, is clear gain Constantly
overworked, they have no time nor iuci.
nation for thought upon any subject !;
they never investigate new systems or
modes of practice, but 60 on in the old
ruts +; they spend little for improvements !;
their cows are such as chance to fall into
their hands, and are nearly as uuim.
proved as the wild cattle Of the plains.
and are bred with as little care or sys.
tenn Their butter is manufactured by a
wasteful, laborious, and inconsistent pro
cess, and its quality is as uncertain as the
weather. They know little with regard
to the average product Of their cows per
head, and much less with regard to the
comparative merits Of the individuals Of
their herds. But if their average product
Of butter per head reaches 100 pounds,
and sells at an average of % cents per
pound, aud thus receive an income Of
$3.50 per head from their cows, they
houghtlcssly accept this result as an in.
evitable consequence of the poverty of
the business though this is barely enough
to pay for the keeping of their cows, poor
as it is, while the labor expended upon
them, and the interest of the money
which they COST are both total loss,
they never seem to realize that they
themselves are at all responsible for the
result.
This class very naturally look upon
the dairy business as hard, slavsh and
proftless. They complain of hard times
and Jad lnch They have few Of the
conveniences and comforts upon which
the ease and pleasure with which their
business may be conducted depend. This
is very natural result Of such n course.
Why should he not complain Of hard
times who thinks such results a necessity
OF his occupation, and grumbles about the
slavish tasks which it imposes2 Unre.
quilted toll, hopelessly continued, is slav.
cry, and he who thus performs it is a
drudge. But if it is the result of his
own stolid apathy he can justly blame no
one but himself, and railing about hard
times, bad luck, and his poor calling, will
not help the case. Nothing but selfre.
form, more intense thought, and moro In
telligent enterprise will, or ought to, save
him from financial ruin. Hard work,
without mental application, will not do it.
Let US now turn to The opposite ex-
IRENE OF dairy mapagemcut-to the dair.
lyman who applies brain work to his call.
ing, and who though diligent does not re.
ly upon physical force alone for success,
but who by intelligent enterprise and su-
perior skill has brought the productive
capacity Of his COWS to 800 pounds per
head per annum, and who has so improved
the quality of his product that it com.
mands 60 cts. per ID. in the market. And