New York State Dairymen's Association. 427 



the existing laws against imitations of dairy products. With a 

 law already in existence prohibiting both their sale and manu- 

 facture, except under proper restrictions, there was no moans of 

 enforcing the law until the dairy commission was established. 

 Senator Low's bill passed the legislature that winter, and within 

 10 days Hon. Josiah K. Brown was appointed chief dairy com- 

 missioner. Our convention that year was held at Owego, and 

 both Senator Low and Commissioner Brown attended and deliv- 

 ered addresses explanatory of the law and hoping for the assist- 

 ance and co-operation of the association. And so the association 

 was again one of the active forces in the enactment of a vitally 

 important law. 



There is one other action taken by the association which was of 

 special weight and consequence. At the Oswego convention of 

 1888, Col. F. D. Curtis occupied an entire evening with an address 

 on " Dairy Education," speaking for more than two hours. Part 

 of the address was written, but much of it was spoken off-hand, 

 as the colonel was so thoroughly imbued with his subject and so 

 earnest in its advocacy that he needed no written notes except for 

 the dates, figures, and quotations. I remember that he brought 

 with him an armful of consular reports from which to read what 

 they had to say about dairy education in European countries. 

 I doubt if that address has ever been surpassed in its way, and the 

 argument he made for dairy instruction in this country was simply 

 convincing and unanswerable. Notwithstanding the great length 

 of his address, the audience, which was composed chiefly of mem- 

 bers of the association, listened to it attentively throughout, and 

 at its close Mr. LI. W. Richardson moved that a committee of 

 three be appointed by the chair " to present the subject of dairy 

 schools to the legislature of this State." President Shattuck ap- 

 pointed as such committee, Mr. Richardson, Col. Curtis, and our 

 present presiding officer, Mr. Geo. A. Smith. I cannot say posi- 

 tively whether the whole committee went to Albany that winter or 

 not, but I know that Col. Curtis went and presented the case to 

 the committee on finance so convincingly that an appropriation 

 was voted to the association that winter for the purpose of dairy 

 education, and seven dairy conferences were held the succeeding 

 summer. These were not the first however. This subject had 

 been talked of among the officers of the association the preceding 

 year, and as the legislature had then granted a small appropriation 

 for defraying the expenses of the association, Secretary Shull had 



