150 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



findiiiir a man who handled a dairy business with twelve cows and 

 kept a flock of a hundred choice sheep, we drew out from him that 

 he made more raonc}' from his cows than from his sheep. 



I imagine that l)efore a great many years we shall arrive at coopera- 

 tive dairying, not only in cheese, but in butter, taking the whole 

 labor from the women in the house. 



The great advantage of the dairying business is, that so large a 

 portion of the product of your feed is left on the farm. It is the 

 best industry for the fertility of the farm that is open to the farmer. 



The choice butter handled in Portland comes largely from out the 

 State. It has been some years since I was engaged in the whole- 

 sale trade there, and I am not fully posted on the subject ; but the 

 proportion of the butter handled there which comes from out the 

 State, is larger than any gentleman here, who is unacquainted with 

 the matter, would suspect. 



The danger of over-production of choice butter is in the far 

 distant future. The onh' trouble, as Mr. Hammond says about the 

 chetse, is that you cannot make enough of it. If I was prepared 

 to furnish one party two hundred pounds of butter per week, I 

 could add largely to the price I am getting to-day. The highest 

 priced butter made for the Boston market comes from the State of 

 Iowa, made b^' the creamery system, where a few years ago they 

 didn't know anything about making butter. Now they make it and 

 send it b}' car loads to the Boston market, and it oversells our 

 fresh dair^' butter all the time. 



Question. Isn't there as good butter made in Maine as in any 

 other New England State? 



Mr. Harris. I think there is. I know of butter made in Maine 

 that sells for sixty-five cents a pound. 



QuKSTiON. Will not the feed change the uniformity of the butter? 



Mr. Harris. I think feed has a good deal to do with making 

 butter. It has a good deal to do with producing good milk. When 

 you have the first quality of milk properly handled, you make the 

 first quality of butter, and the feed has a good deal to do with the 

 milk. 



Question. Why is it that Maine butter does not bring so high a 

 price in the Boston market as dair^- butter from some other States? 



Mr. Harris. Some Maine butter does. The difficultj', I 

 apprehend, arises somewhat from the fact that there arc no large 

 quantities of butter of any one make shipped to the commission 



