Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-05-09
Of IOWA
Want STATE AID
Next Legislature Will Be Asked
to Appropriate $4,000 For
Extension Work
FOR EDUCATION OF FARMERS
Plan to Promote Dairyins Among All
the Farmers of the State Better
Cows and More Profitable Ones the
Need - No Dairyins in Some Por-
tions of the State.
Special to Times-Republican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines, May 9.-Dairymen OF
Iowa, thru state dairy association, Will
ask the next legislature of Iowa for
an appropriation of 100000 to carry on
extension work among the farmers OF
the state, and will offer as one of the
arguments for this appropriation that
it will add $3O,OO0,0OO to the produc-
ton of butter each year in this state
Every session of the legislature the
dairymen's association has been be-
fore the legislature for an appropria-
ton for various purposes, and has
never had anything. Thus far the as
sociation has managed to get along
claim they propose to come in strong
for this appropriation.
The decision to ask for this appro-
priation for extension purposes was
reached by the officers of the associ-
alton within the last few days. The
state som. years ago established
dairy commissioners department, with
commissioner and corps OF work.
ers In charge. The business of this
department has been to work among
the dairymen and educate them to the
proper methods of making butter. This
educational propaganda among the
a., Nd has hapn
a very important work, and has done
much good and has resulted in a saw
ing of much money to the makers Of
butter.
Dairymen now claim, however, that
while there is still need of some work
along this line the most of that work
has been accomplished, that the work
now should be among the. farmers to
educate them to the idea of the prof
it's that can be made from keeping
dairy cattle. There are entire sections
in Iowa where not a dairy COW is kept.
Almost the entire southern part OF the
state has no dairy cattle. The farmers
there, it is claimed, have been trying
to make money feeding beef cattle, but
have failed to do it. In addition to
beef cattle, they have some slab-slded
hogs, but have failed to keep up the
fertility of their farms, as we'll as to
enrich their bank accounts. In the
northern part OF the state more dairy
cattle are raised, but there are many
farmers there who are ignorant of
the advantages from keeping dairy
cattle.
The average COW in Iowa gives 14O
pounds of butter fat each year Ihe
best cows give as high as 900 pounds
OF butter fat each year. 1t is claimed
by the officers of the dairymen's as
sociation that if proper campaign
of college extension work was carried
on among the farmers of the state the
average production of butter fat could
be raised to the figure of the highest
production There are 90,000,000 pounds
of butter shipped out of Iowa each
wear to the eastern market. If as the
dairymen claim the production of butt
ter fat can be doubled at a price of 20
cents a pound it means an increase OF
$50 100000 a year and all of this would
be money that would come to the state
from outside sources But there is
much more butter manufactured IN
Iowa than is shipped out and taken all
in all the dairymen claim that there
would be an increase of s3O,000,000 in
the butter production to the state of
Iowa.
For this college extension work in
dairying it is proposed to use the pro-
fessors in the dairy department at the
state agricultural college at Ames. 1t
is not proposed in this work to seek
to increase the number of crealneries
in the state but only to educate the
farmers to the advisability of keeping
COWS and selling butter, much of which
will be manufactured by the farmers
themselves on the farms. If there is
further need for creameries it is
claimed that these will readily enter
the field.
1t is argued further that not only
will an increase in the dairy business
in Iowa increase the bank accounts and
bring much money to the state but that
dairying will not only keep up but in
crease the fertility Of the farms and
add thus to the value of the land.