Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1911-03-31

relative to the proper points to be
observed In the selection. breeding,
feeding and the caring for cows, and
tfen it is that 1t becomes possible for
the experts hired by the Iowa State
Dairymen's association to be Of as.
ststance to him. The spirit Of i'm.
provement has reached farther than
the legislature and the Dairymen's as.
ISOLATION, SO that at the present time
much good is being done by public
spirited men along this same line Of
improvement.
Iowa Cow Culture Club.
Probably no one has excited so
much interest in dairying during the
past year az has Mr.. w. w. Marsh
Of Waterloo. Iowa. During this time
he has made two or three trips to
the island Of Guernsey and imported
from there. regardless of cost. nearly
100 head Of the very finest Guernsey
cattle that money could buy. He was
the organizer of the Iowa Cow Culture
club and put up $1,000 in cash to be
divided as prizes among the II cows
producing the most butter in Iowa
After he had started the game many
others followed. The Iowa State Az
ricultural college at Ames agreed to
make official the records of these
cows by sending tester to the home
OF each COW once a month. BY so
doing, when the years test has been
completed each COW will have an off,
cial record of the exact amount of
milk and butter that she has produced
during the year and there will be no
guesswork about It,
Hon. ]. ]. Richardson of Davenport.
iowa. than whom there is no. more in
duential man connected with the
American Jersey Cattle club of New
York city, at once set about to induce
the Cattle club to duplicate Mr..
Marsh's prizes for Jersey cattle that
might enter the contest and win.
W. B. Barney Of Hampton. Iowa. pres
dent Of the Iowa Dairymen's associa-
ton and likewise influential with the
Holstein-F riesian association of Amer.
lea. induced his association to dupn-
cato the prizes to the extent of $500
for Holstein cows that might be win.
ners of portion of Mr.. Marsh's
money, and then 1t was that everyone
seemed anxious to put up prizes for
the good of this cause and seven or
eight pure bred dairy bull calves were
offered as prizes to competitors own.
ing common grade cows. Dairy sepa-
rators, milking machines and prizes
of all kinds were offered. until finally
the prize list amounted to between
four and five thousand dollars. and
then 1t was that the farmers of Iowa
began entering their cows until at the
time when the date for entry closed.
there were found to be competing in
the one large association 100 cows and
surprising are the facts that have
been revealed from month to month A
large number of the cows have been
producing from 40 to 100 pounds Of
butter per month and, on the other
hand, large number of them have
been producing from 10 to Is pounds
of butter a month: or. in other words.
some of the cows In the test are the
equal in milk and butter production
and. in the end. In the production Of
profits to their owners. Of eight or
ten of the cows on the other end.
This yearly contest will be finished
BY the first Of August, 1910. and the
yearly production Of 160 cows can
then be figured up. At that time it is
planned to duplicate the test and al
ready much prize money has been Of
fered for the cows that will enter for
another such race.
Now, the value of such contest is
not in the prize which the owner of a
COW may win, because this really is a
small portion Of the real good. but 1t
ls surprising as well as very gratifying
to find how intense the interest of the
owner of the COW becomes when she
begins her race in public contest.
He at once wishes to learn the very
best ways of feeding and caring for
her and there is an impulse which
leads him on to increasing his edu-
cation along lines that will better the
conditions in the dairy for all time
TO come. This growth of interest
brings questions from farmers. dairy.
men and breeders all over the state
regarding the building up and caring
for the dairy herd. Many are antici-
pating going into the dairy business
and others who have been in the dairy
business are anticipating making
their business one of less drudgery,
shorter hours of confinement and Q
business of profit with less of the
heavy work and care, than in most
eny ether line of farming