154 agriculture; of maine. 



ucts go at the quotations that a few men may make, which do 

 not fairly represent the values. Some such law as they have 

 in [Minnesota, where the commission man has to make a return 

 to the consignor, stating who bought his consignment also the 

 price received for same, might be advocated. We must cooper- 

 ate more with the Maine Dairymen's Association in better work, 

 more aggressive work, better laws concerning our dairy inter- 

 ests and an enforcement of those laws. 



One thing more; as we go from this meeting let us be deter- 

 mined to handle this most precious article of food in the best 

 possible way, that it may be gotten to the baby, the invalid, and 

 the consumer in general as pure as possible. 



Leon S. ^Merrill. 

 I have been interested in the paper by Mr. Harris, and also 

 in the discussion by Mr. McEdwards. I have been in close 

 touch with the work of the creamerymen of this State for quite 

 a number of years, and I want to say that in my experience, 

 with the opportunities I have had to meet the creamerymen of 

 other states, we have today the most progressive creamer}^men 

 that I know of anywhere. I have never seen anything advo- 

 cated that has stood for progress, conservative progress, prog- 

 ress that was demanded by the conditions of our markets, that 

 has not been supported by these men. And I think we can 

 safely leave some things in their hands, Mr. President, because 

 they are in touch with the consumer, and he is the man who has 

 to say in what condition this product shall be placed before him. 

 After all, it is the man who rubs up against the hard things in 

 life who can tell you what the real conditions are, not the man 

 who is passing his opinion upon theory. We have had too 

 much of that in the past. Here we have an organization which 

 has done much in the past few years. They have been cooper- 

 ating with the Department of Agriculture in everything that it 

 has suggested. I have not asked anything of the Creamery- 

 men's Association during the two years that I have been con- 

 nected with the Department of Agriculture in which they have 

 not given me willing co-opergtion. H any one needs to have a 

 demonstration of that he can go down here in the milk room 



