Education of the Farmer. 453 



In the past, in many instances, there has been a misapprehension 

 of the true relation of producer and manufacturer; the producer 

 feeling that the maker had no interest in his welfare beyond 

 getting the milk of his dairy into the factory. The farmer thought 

 the maker considered only his own profit from working up the 

 milk, and did not care how the owner of the herd came out. In 

 some instances, I am sorry to say, this has been true, and for that 

 reason the farmer took no pains to have right conditions for pro- 

 duction. If these were good, it was more a matter of chance than 

 of good management, for there was no organized system at the 

 farm to have the cow, the utensils, and the milker in a good sani- 

 tary condition. Everything done was with the one idea of getting 

 along with as little work as possible, and having the milk pass 

 muster at the receiving stand. On the other hand, the makers 

 only idea was to keep the factory going and have the buyer take 

 his goods at the ruling on the weekly salesday. This system of 

 doing business has been a demoralizing one on both sides and is 

 responsible for very much of the poor butter and cheese which 

 finds its way to the markets and makes lower prices for the whole 

 output. In the last few years a considerable number of the people 

 interested in the question : " How can we make the dairy business 

 more profitable ? " have come to believe that there can be no per- 

 manent advance toward better methods until there is a more 

 thorough understanding of the underlying principles of the busi- 

 ness. This educational work cannot be accomplished unless we are 

 willing to accept the ideas of those who have had opportunities for 

 scientific observation and experiments which we have not had. In 

 other words, we must be possessed of a teachable spirit. When 

 a change or reform is advocated in any line of business, the hard 

 thing to overcome is prejudice, and I think this is especially true 

 of dairy work. Too much dairy practice is largely founded on 

 traditions which have been brought down from one generation to 

 another, until what grandfather and grandmother said have come 

 to be held proved facts in the minds of quite a class. We all 

 know how difficult it is for us to accept as true, statements which 

 differ radically from what we have been educated from early 

 childhood to believe. I can imagine what would have happened 

 if I could have had the knowledge and had tried to convince my 

 grandfather that milk soured because of the growth of minute 

 plants, and that most of the changes in milk which we have to meet 

 were brought about by some of those different families of plants. 

 I am inclined to think he would not have accepted it kindly, and 



