VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. Si 



Wednesday Morning. 



President Pierce. We have allowed the speaker to change 

 his subject and he will speak on: 



"SOME DAIRY HINTS GATHERED FROM MY EX- 

 PERIENCE." 



H. W. Vail, North Pomfret, Vt. 



In preparing this paper I thought it would be of interest to 

 me and probably to other dairymen to know how large a por- 

 tion of the butter of the state was made in creameries and 

 how much in private dairies; whether the amount of butter 

 made in creameries is on the increase from year to year; and 

 to be able to get the true trend of our dairy situation ; but no 

 such data can at present be obtained. The only data touch- 

 ing the dairy interest of the state I have been able to find is 

 contained in the last report of the Board of Agriculture com- 

 piled by Mr. V. I. Spear (1898) in which it appears that the 

 number of cows in the state has decreased in the seven years 

 following the census of 1880 to the extent of 10,763, and 

 young neat stock, 48,060, or about 8,400 head a year for the 

 seven years, a yearly decrease of about four and one-half per 

 cent, of the whole number of cows. This would not indicate 

 that the amount of butter annually made in the state was 

 on the increase although I am satisfied that more butter is 

 made from each dairy cow on the average than formerly. 



It is evident, however that a large portion of the butter of 

 the state is now made of at creameries and in passing I would 

 call attention to the rapidity with which the creamery has 

 occupied the dairy field. Twenty-five years will nearly cover 

 the growth of the whole system and along with this growth 

 or possibly preceding it a little, have come all the present 

 dairy machinery and appliances and the application of power 

 with separator and Babcock tester. This growth has devel- 

 oped along lines of much usefulness and has been the great 

 factor in raising the average quality of Vermont butter. 

 While no inventions have appeared within the past few years 

 to make material change in the present system it in not im- 

 probable that sooner or later they will come. For instance in 



