334 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



try has flourished, but I want to say that there never has been a time in 

 the history of dairy when there has been a greater desire manifested to 

 to go into that business as a general thing than at the present time. I 

 believe there is not a section in the state but is more or less interested in 

 this question, that is hot trying to get into the dairy business more than 

 ever before. A reason for this I think may be found largely in the 

 advent of the centralizing plants. The coming of those institutions in 

 the country has aroused a great deal of discussion as to their merits 

 and demerits and as to their probable effect upon the dairy industry. 

 While we may probably censure some of the methods they pursue in the 

 handling of their product, we must remember thej' are a part of the 

 whole dairy system of Iowa and we must be liberal enough to know that 

 the greatest good is accomplished when the greatest number are bene- 

 fited, and we must not fail to remember that the introduction of this 

 system of creamery business has opened a trade to thousands of farmers 

 in the state of Iowa that were not accessible and could not go to a cream- 

 ery. 



We have just passed through a year of probably the most peculiar 

 conditions in the history of dairying that we have ever had. We have 

 seen the time during ^he past year when the great receiving centers of 

 the country have been practically bare of stocks. We have seen various 

 merchants parceling out their shipments in three and five tub lots in 

 order to supply their trade, and this has been the fact too when we went 

 into the winter months one year ago with fifty-six million pounds of 

 surplus butter on hand. This year we have gone into the winter 

 months with seventy-six million pounds surplus butter on hand. One 

 year age we had very nearly fifteen percent increase in the consumptive 

 demand; this year we have a twenty-five percent, increase over the con- 

 sumptive demand of a year ago. Everything seems to indicate a con- 

 tinued era of prosperity to the dairymen; with wise and judicious man- 

 agement on the part of the men who have, this great stock of storage 

 butter at the present time, there can be no question but it can all be 

 taken care of with a profit and with no injury to the dairy business, but 

 the great trouble lies here, and I wish I could impress it strong enough 

 upon the minds of the men who hold this butter, that if they do not 

 push the price of the product too high so as to stop this consumptvie de- 

 mand or to open the doors to oleomargarine, there is no question but it 

 can be all placed in consumptive channels at a profit. 



There is no question but this large consumptive demand with conse- 

 quent high prices is almost entirely the result of the suppression of the 

 illegal sale of oleomargarine. Lest I may be accused of self praise again, 

 I am only going to touch this phase of the question lightly. It does not 

 seem necessary for me to enter into any kind of history of the dairyman 

 in trying to secure the production which they have. I will make this 

 statement to you, which I believe will be sufficient, and that is that those 

 who have watched the trend of events, those who have watched the his- 

 tory for the last four years know that in 1902 the output of eleomargar- 

 ine was 126 million pounds and in 1904 less than 50 million pounds; 

 and if you will stop to consider, one of the most remarkable things about 



