148 Thirty-Sixth Annual Report of the 



deeply interested in the results. The essential points in the con- 

 tract entered into by the members of the Association are : 



1. A statement of the purpose of the organization, i. e., 

 to provide means for the cooperation of its members in test- 

 ing periodically the milk yields of their cows and for the im- 

 provement of their dairy interests. 



2. An agreement to pay the sum of one dollar per year 

 for a series of years for each cow owned by each individual for 

 the purpose of defraying expenses, fees to be paid in quarterly 

 installments in advance. 



3. An agreement to board and lodge the peripatetic tester 

 for one day each month and to convey him to the next place of 

 work. 



4. A provision authorizing the treasurer of the local cream- 

 ery company to retain the quarterly fees from creamery checks 

 and to pay the same to the secretary of the Association. 



This amounts to saying that through cooperation at a price 

 not to exceed one dollar per cow annually and two weeks' board 

 for one man and the transportation of this man twelve times 

 a year to the next place, one secures an essentially accurate state- 

 ment as to the dairy work of each animal, not to speak of the 

 benefit of the comparison of the outcome with that achieved by 

 one's neighbors. 



The Association's employee need not be a man of large 

 ability, nor is it necessary that his scholastic training be more 

 than that of the common schools. He must be able to weigh 

 milk accurately, to record the weights correctly, to sample and 

 to test milk accurately, and to handle figures readily and with- 

 out error. A practical knowledge of dairying operations and 

 as to modern methods of feeding will make him the more valuable 

 to his employers, but is not absolutely essential to his success. 

 It is not indeed necessary that he know how to test milk, as ar- 

 rangements may be made to handle the samples at the local 

 creamery. The employee's time will not be entirely consumed 

 in weighing, testing, computing and in travel. He may be re- 

 quired to do other service between times. 



In short, the details of the proposition are not difficult to 

 work out ; the cost need not be excessive ; the work required is 

 simple and within the grasp of any man of fair intelligence ; and 

 the results, if accepted in the right spirit, are of great value. 



Now in my judgment this is a proposition which this Dairv- 

 men's Association ought to embrace. I have been a member for 

 years and have had the honor and privilege of addressing- 

 its members for fourteen consecutive years. I may perhaps 

 be allowed to say that the knowledge of its workings thus gained 

 entitles me to express an opinion as to its work. I believe that the 



