DAIRY CONFERENCE. 51 



are assembled here this morning are largely those who are already 

 practitioners of the advanced methods of dairying. 



I was surprised at an assembly* of dairymen in this butter making 

 count}^ of Kennebec, a short time since, b}- the statement after the 

 close of the meeting of one of the individuals present, that he pre- 

 sumed in his town one-half of the dairy women practiced allowing 

 their cream to remain on the milk until the milk was sour. It 

 was rather an astonishing revelation to me, that such should be the 

 fact here in one of the oldest dairy counties in the State, and where 

 dairying has been practiced longer as a leading business probabl}-, 

 than in any other county in the State, and where some of the best 

 dairy practice is carried on at the present time Only last week, at 

 an assemblage of dairymen, at a Farmer's Institute in another part 

 of the State a sample of butter was shown, and very fine butter too, 

 and the husband and wife were both proud of the sample, and they 

 volunteered the statement that "'it was made inagood old-l'ashiontd 

 dash churn." 



With these practices still prevailing to some extent among us it 

 was thought it would be of vaUie to bring some better mi thods to 

 the observation of dairymen, and bring them so closeh' to their 

 attention that if they are interested in the progress that is going on, 

 they could not help seeing what is called for and what is being done 

 at the present time. This meeting is intended to be entirely 

 informal, and what I ma}- have to say is to be in the form of a con- 

 versation or conference with you, asking 30U to aid and assist in 

 carrying it on. If there are any here who want to see cream in 

 what we call a proper condition for churning, I would like to have 

 them flle to the platform and we will illustrate by this sample ihe 

 proper condition of cream when it is ripe for churning into butter 

 to suit the market of the present day. 



One of the greatest obstacles I have found in undertaking to en- 

 force the difference in quality of butter is the indifference on the 

 part of makers to taste the butter Nobody knows whether they 

 are making good butter or not unless the}- taste of it; and if they 

 want to find out and appreciate the difference in quality of different 

 makes of butter they want to have an opportunity, and improve it, 

 to taste of those different makes of butter. 



This matter of butter making is one that concerns everybody, 

 either as maker or consumer, henee its importance cannot be over- 

 estimated. In the first place, in modern dairying, good milk is 



