18 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



Finally, it would not be possible to discuss the question of pro- 

 duction during the past twenty-five years without making mention 

 of the mechanical milker. The last quarter of a century has seen 

 the development of the milking machine from its merest beginning to 

 its present extended use. There may be some question as to how 

 much machine milking has stimulated production, and there may be 

 some question now as to its ultimate success, but certain it is that it has 

 been an important factor in production and should receive a great deal 

 of attention in the years to come. 



DAIRY PRODUCTS 



In Illinois the manufacture and traffic in dairy products is now 

 less than seventy-five years old. Prior to 1850 little or no attention 

 was given to any form of dairying. Butter-making at that time was 

 considered one of the household duties, carried on principally to supply 

 the family needs for butter, the excess being taken to the store for 

 what was termed in those days "store pay." This resulted in the 

 accumulation of miscellaneous lots of butter of inferior quality, which 

 was packed in boxes or barrels and sold in the East as Western butter. 

 Thus, in the early days the Middle West established a reputation for 

 inferior dairy products, which it took years to overcome. 



Naturally, as soon as more cows were kept than were needed to 

 supply home demands, one of the first forms of commercializing the 

 industry was that of selling whole milk. This branch of the industry 

 may be said to have begun in 1852, when P. H. Smith, of Elgin, took 

 one eight-gallon can of milk to the Northwestern station and shipped 

 it to the old City Hotel in Chicago. From that time on until now 

 the industry has grown until we could not measure the calamity that 

 would result if the supply of thousands of such cans were shut off 

 from the city of Chicago for a single day. 



In 1877 the Chicago Journal published the following article; 

 which not only shows the development of the city milk business but 

 also gives the public view of the business at that time : 



The item of milk for daily consumption in a city like Chicago is some- 

 thing enormous. This supply must come from the rural districts, and within 

 a limited range, as it it not found desirable to transport the fluid too great a 

 distance. Coming pure from the farms, it might become butter if indulged 

 with too long a ride. The great bulk of the supply for Chicago comes from 

 Cook, DuPage, Kane and McHenry counties, the famous Fox River valley 

 furnishing three-fourths. Throughout these counties are hundreds of splendid 



