Food products must bear some relation to the costs of production in the
long run, but, after all, they have to be sold in the market on the basis
of
what the purchaser will pay for them. In this respect butter suffers more
than other dairy products like cheese or condensed milk, as the substitutes
compete with the genuine article. A strong market exists for butter even
at
present prices, but with the decline that will probably ensue when the next
crop comes on the market, it is imperative that quality should be maintained
as demand for high quality is always insistent.
    Dairying is the line in which the Wisconsin farmer is already the most
proficient. Based on the fundamental principle that it is generally wise
to
continue to do the thing which experience has shown to be the best adapted
to a section, the Wisconsin farmer in most parts of the state cannot go far
wrong if he keeps dairying and related live stock production, especially
swine,
in the foreground. The reputation which this type of agriculture has brought
the state makes it doubly desirable that we should continue to "carry
on".
Dairying and live stock bridged is over the decline of wheat farming in the
seventies, and since they fit in with the program of permanent agricultural
development, it is no time to change now.
              MAKE OUR FARMING MORE EFFICIENT
    In readjusting our agriculture to after-the-war conditions, attention
should
however not only be given to what is grown but more particularly to how it
is grown. The war has taught us that we can save as well as produce.
Better seed will produce more and stronger plants; better culture will ripen
crops more rapidly and increase yields. It is easier to prevent losses from
disease in our fields and flocks than it is to labor to grow more feed to
gro x
more stock. A dose of serum will prevent hog cholera which has long taken
its toll of millions. Seed disinfection and sprays, intelligently applied,
save
the crop from blight and bugs.
    The high wage scale which now obtains requires the best possible utiliza-
tion of labor. This means a wider use of labor-saving machinery, a more
intelligent use of fertilizers. If liming and inoculation increase the -yield
of
legumes on our acid soils (which cover nearly one-half of our state), then
we might better spend the time and money necessary to secure this result
than to cultivate more acres. Better farming will mean better business, and
with better business will come better living which, after all, is the highest
aim
which can be sought.