44 VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S REPORT. 



active to apply the dairy gospel than is the case in the East. 

 The)* are "built that way," they hustle more. They have earned 

 their success and the}- deserve it. Let us emulate them. 



II. EASTERN ADVANTAGES. 



There is, however, a reverse side to this picture. New 

 England dairying possesses certain advantages which have been 

 helpful in the past and which may be useful in the future. They 

 may be enumerated as follows: 



i. Better cows. 



2. Former reputation. 



3. Proximity to market. 



4. Special goods. 



1. Better cows. It is quite safe to say that New England 

 cows will average better than those of other sections of the coun- 

 try, and that the production per cow is larger than elsewhere. 

 The cow is the foundation of all branches of dairying, hence this 

 is an important advantage, one not to be underestimated, one 

 which should in ever}- possible way be increased. Of this more 

 anon. 



2. Former reputation. Time was when Vermont butter, 

 like Vermont maple sugar, was the standard of excellence through- 

 out the East. "Northern Creamery," that istosay, New Hamp- 

 shire and Vermont creamery butter has heretofore sold and often 

 sells today on Boston market at a higher figure than Western 

 brands of the same grade because of a reputation founded, it must 

 be acknowledged, more upon tradition than by actual superiority. 

 This old time reputation has been a marked advantage, but tra- 

 dition cannot much longer sustain the distinction in view of the 

 greatly lessening proportion of New England's total output that 

 is sold in the large markets. 



(3.) Proximity to markets. "Once upon a time," as they 

 say in fairy tales, the nearness to market was an important factor 

 in the trade, but refrigerator cars, cold storage, frozen butter, low 

 freight rates and the like have made this advantage a broken reed 

 upon which none can lean with safety. 



(4.) Special goods. Thus far the West has not been able to 

 compete with the East in the New England markets in the milk or 

 cream trade. This trade is a large and growing outlet for New 

 England dairy products, particularly in New Hampshire, Massa- 

 chusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. When, however, we 

 consider what pasteurization and freezing do, when we think of 

 what liquid air has done and may yet do in economic fields, surely 

 it is far from safe for us to assume that the great West will not 

 before long be placing frozen bricks of milk and cream, pasteurized 



