The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-05-27
AGRICULTURAL.
True as Gospel.

Taking this text from recent letter
from the De Laval Separator Company,
Hoard'S Dairyman breaches discourse
every farmer should hear and heed:
"The prevailing unprecedentedly
and Unexpectedly low butter prices will
serve to teach one sound, wholesome
lesson in economical creamery opera
ton, even if severe and unwelcome
one. Almost any sort of management
and any sort of apparatus has enabled
a creamery to exist at past prices even
though the waste was greater than the
profits, ETC."
The De Laval Company are talking
about creamery management and how
the very best economy and most skill
full management are required TO keep
from distressing loss.
Apply the doctrine to the dairy
farmer, where it is twice as true as in
the creamery.
When butter is worth twenty-five to
thirty cents, a poor COW may possibly
bring her owner out even. Where is
she and her owner to-day?
With butter al thirty cents, poor
COW and farmer who does not care to
be made intelligent on the many i'm
portant dairy questions may possibly
come out even. But where will the
poor cow and the poor dairyman, with
his contempt for better knowledge, ap-
pear to-day? Every man ought to see
that these are times when only good
swimmers can keep their heads above
the water. The remedy is not to sneer
at the good swimmer and his knowledge
of swimming, but try to learn how to
swim.
Now is splendid time for every
farmer who keeps cows to stop and ask
himself few questions.
l. Am studying this dairy business
down to fine point, as ought to.
2. Am l improving my mind, my
judgment and all, as man ought who
must understand modern dairying?
3. Am looking into this cow ques-
ton? Do l know really very much
about my cows? Have l taken any
real sensible pains to make test of
them, 80 can get rid of the poor, I'M
profitable ones?
4. Butter is low; clear down to what
it costs well informed man to produce
it. Can / afford to go along just as l
have done, lol these many years, with
out making any special effort to become
well.inform dairyman?
5. HO0rd'S Dairyman has told me all
true, faithful friend. 1t never fatters
me, but always tries to instruct me.
Can afford to pay no attention to its
warnings?
6, know, if know anything, that
must lose money every DAY unless l
have herd of good cows and handle
them as wise dairyman should. If |
know this, should l not brace up and
strive 10 put better thinking, more
thought and study into the business?
Hard, blind labor won't save me.
must manage this herd of cows better.
If every dairy farmer in the United
States would put these questions fairly
and honestly to himself for the next
thirty days, low prices would be worth
millions to the country.
The difficulty can be seen with half
an eye everywhere. The great mass of
men who are keeping COWS are putting
but very little sound dairy knowledge
into the business. If they were we'll
informed dairymen, does any man sup
pose they would keep such lot of
poor, Improbable cows? OF course not.
A well-informed man would get rid of
the poor COWS at once. He would use
his knowledge to find out which of
those COWS was cheating him. Here
is where intelligence steps in.
These hard times are turning a white
light on the whole of us. Whether it is
in printing offices or on dairy farms,
we must use sound knowledge and lots
of it to tide over. The more newspa-
pers we issue below cost, and more
cows we keep that are constantly run
ming us in debt, the worse we are get
ting every day. What is the remedy?
More and better knowledge of our bust
ness. There are lots of newspaper men
and dairy farmers who never yet really
set about to know what their business
means, or what must be done to keep
it up in times of hard shedding" One
farmer the other day put the question
in its right light. He said that for
years he economical on knowledge and
wasted on COWS until he was near bank
rupt. Since he had tried it the other
way, he had been twice as happy and
prosperous. These are right profitable
days for study. We can't hope to make
much money; but we may be able,
with little better dairy sense, to save
lot of money.
Beans as Field Crop.