VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 23 



care should be taken to disinfect the stables thoroughly. Un- 

 less this is done, the disease is very sure to break out again. 

 Test your herds as soon as the disease is suspected. It means 

 too great a loss to wait longer. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



There are said to be 17,000,000 dairy cows in this country, 

 one to every four inhabitants; still the demand for first class 

 dairy products exceeds the supply. The perfection of milk as 

 a human food has been demonstrated beyond all doubt. The 

 demand for the products of milk is sure to increase both at 

 home and abroad. The United States is especially adapted 

 to dairying. No country in the world produces so many use- 

 ful grasses and forage plants. The great indigenous crop, 

 corn, the food which produces the finest quality of butter, is 

 raised more largely here than in any other country. Our 

 foreign friends, the Danes, are realizing its value as a dairy 

 food, and are importing large quantities. Statistics show that 

 in 1898 16,874,943 bushels of Indian corn were imported by 

 the Danes from the United States. More corn should be raised 

 in our own state. We buy too much. Here the question of 

 our abandoned farms may well be taken up. It is a matter of 

 great regret that these farms with their natural fertility, es- 

 pecially adapted to raising grass and cereals, are lying idle. 

 Will the young men of Vermont reclaim them? Or shall we 

 have to give them up to the foreign element? The present 

 outlook is that the demand for abandoned farms in New Eng- 

 land will greatly increase, and that this will be brought about 

 largely by the growth of dairy interest. The rural free deliv- 

 ery of mail, and the just interstate commerce laws, when fully 

 realized, will be important factors in this direction. Time will 

 prevent further discussion. It has been my pleasure to hold 

 office in this Association for the past six years. In turning 

 over the work to another I can only say that I trust that my 

 successor will find the work as pleasant and profitable as it 

 has been to me, that through his efforts the Association will 

 be raised to a higher plane of usefulnss. 



