100 THE BUTTER INDUSTRY IN UNITED STATES [324 



ment of the dairy industry. A great many Germans are 

 scattered throughout Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Min- 

 nesota, and in Wisconsin and Minnesota there are a great 

 many Norwegians and Swedes. With most of these peo- 

 ple the art of making butter and cheese is a heritage that 

 has been handed down to them by their ancestors. 



The attitude of the rural population toward labor has 

 much to do with making successful dairying possible. The 

 classes of people above referred to are all industrious, intel- 

 ligent, and thrifty. The women as well as the men do a 

 day's work cheerfully and with dignity. Their intelligence 

 enables them to appreciate the value of sanitary methods in 

 handling dairy products. In sections of the country where 

 the more intelligent agricultural population is indisposed 

 toward manual labor and where the work has to be done, 

 if it is done at all, by a class that is for the most part irre- 

 sponsible, dairying can never be very successful. 



The wonderful strides that some of the states in the north 

 central group have made in recent years in the dairy indus- 

 try is not alone due to natural and economic causes, but is 

 without a doubt due in considerable part to the progressive- 

 ness of the people. The same could be said concerning 

 some of the eastern dairy states. One need only read reso- 

 lutions offered at dairy conventions to see how earnestly 

 and enthusiastically these people attack all problems that 

 confront them. Following is part of a resolution adopted 

 by the Wisconsin Dairymen's Association in 1882 : * 



Resolved, That we recognize gratefully that the general 

 public regard this Association and the dairy interest as among 

 . . . the leading interests of the times ; and we hereby pledge 

 to each other that in returning to our homes we will profit by 

 the thoughts and suggestions received here. 



1 Vide, Report, p. 92. 



