2IO AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



BUSINESS MEETING OF MAINE DAIRYMEN'S 



ASSOCIATION. 



The annual business meeting of the Maine Dairymen's Asso- 

 ciation was opened at 1.45 by the president, H. G. Beyer, Jr., 

 who gave the annual address, as follows: 



ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 



Gentlemen : We are met together in annual convention to 

 review progress for the last year and to plan progress for the 

 next year. All our activities may properly be classified under 

 these two heads. 



There are various lines along which improvement can take 

 place. Dairymen can improve, getting better stock; housing 

 their stock in better barns ; handling their dairy products in a 

 better manner ; in cheapening the cost of feeding their stock, 

 and in installing labor-saving devices. Progress can also be 

 made along the lines of economy of operation and in other 

 labor-saving appliances. All these lines of progress have to do 

 with increasing the profit from dairy farms. 



Better stock means that less food will be required to produce 

 one pound of milk. The housing of stock in better barns means 

 that the animals will be maintained more comfortably, and in 

 warm barns, less food will be required. Handling dairy pro- 

 ducts in a better manner means a cleaner milk and generally an 

 increased price for the commodity. Cheapening the cost of 

 feeds and labor by putting in labor-saving devices makes a direct 

 saving in the cost of operating, and thus tends directly to in- 

 crease the profit. 



I shall not attempt in detail to take up more than two of 

 these items in my address on account of the length of the pro- 

 gram today. I do, however, want to speak briefly about the 



