DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETIXGS. 12/ 



farm life are sharply engraven on my mind. I remember well 

 the first cow I ever milked ; I remember where she stood, how 

 she looked and the first time she ever put her foot into a pail 

 of milk. I remember the old barn ; I remember the old tie-up 

 on the north side of the barn and, as there were no boards in 

 front of where the cows stood, I assure you there was plenty 

 of fresh air in that tie-up, if no sunlight. I remember the old 

 wooden stanchion and how it was our duty each night to go 

 around and tap those wooden pins in order to make sure the 

 cows were securely fastened. I remember the Santa Claus 

 expression that those cows had on a frosty morning ; I remem- 

 ber the barn cellar, all open on one side ; the watering tub in 

 the yard where we had to pump the water every morning. I 

 remember how we used to strain and set the milk in the cool 

 cellar in summer and how we used to keep it in the warm cup- 

 board up stairs in the winter. I remember the old churn ; the 

 old butter mold with its sprig of daisies on top ; the old red 

 box in which we used to pack that butter to go to market, and 

 the old gray horse — I certainly remember him ; he was per- 

 fectly safe at one end, but I shall carry the marks of his teeth 

 to the end of my life. I remember the old wagon on which 

 we loaded that butter and other products ; in winter, if I had 

 good luck, I got twenty-five cents a pound for it, but as the days 

 became warmer it got down to eighteen cents ; then there would 

 be no sale for it and mother had to go to making cheese ; the 

 process of this cheese-making is so vivid in my mind that I 

 believe I could make cheese today. 



We have made great progress since those days ; there is no 

 question about it. Probably the greatest improvement is tak- 

 ing butter- fat from the milk ; the deep setting system took the 

 place of the pans and the separator has taken the place of the 

 deep setting system ; but today, I am sorry to say. there are 

 about as many tie-ups as cold as my father's. We did not know 

 about bacteria content in those days, but I believe those cows 

 of ours gave us as clean and as pure milk as a whole lot of the 

 milk producers today. I firmly believe those cows I had as a 

 boy were better producers than thousands of cows today, and 

 hundreds of pounds of butter produced today are not as good 

 as my mother used to make. So have we really, after all, made 



