i6o agriculture; of maine. 



advantages of co-operative work. There has been one egg 

 circle organized, and I do not know but two. The future holds 

 a great deal for Maine in the line of co-operative work, and 

 the Dairy Testing Association has been the entering wedge. 



Third, the work of the Dairy Testing Association can increase 

 the value of the man to his family, to the community and to 

 the State. Perhaps it looks a little peculiar to you that these 

 meetings can improve a man socially, yet I learn from the fami- 

 lies that things are pleasanter all around than before the advent 

 of the associations, just because father is studying his work, 

 and if he does, it improves his income and makes it larger. 

 Does not that improve a man to his family? The members of 

 the associations that study the records have increased their 

 income through the knowledge of what they are doing; knowl- 

 edge of dairy improvements, monthly increased by the records 

 of the dairy. A man's interest becomes keener when he has 

 figures on one line of his work, and sees there its relation to 

 his pocketbook. And he will buy his feed co-operatively, and 

 be a little more careful about the next day's sale. Possibly he 

 will weigh his milk, and then he will begin to realize that some 

 of the hard things laid to the creamery may be due to the milk 

 fed to the cat and dog, and to the cup of cream for breakfast. 

 When the man sees the income increase, he begins to look into 

 the future, his dreams are broader, he can see the way to things 

 he wants, things he has given up in years past. Then the best 

 of it is the whole family gets interested in the cow, and the 

 cow gets a little better attention, perhaps a minute or two of 

 carding each day that she did not get before, and maybe the 

 stable windows are washed more often. These things come 

 by the whole family taking an interest. Then through the asso- 

 ciation we have new men in a new world ; because it has been 

 a school, a local dairy school, with a local dairy text-book, 

 working under actual conditions, and the problems it solves are 

 the problems of life. 



The Master of the State Grange told me that the members 

 of the associations were doing better work in the Grange than 

 they did before the Dairy Testing Associations were organized. 

 That was particularly pleasing to me, coming from the State 

 Master. I have seen local ministers in the communities where 

 associations are working, and they tell me they get better sup- 



