1890.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 215 



been able to draw for illustrations and proofs of his positions. 

 I cannot hope to fill his place, and shall endeavor simply to 

 express a few thoughts, which shall serve in a manner to 

 introduce a subject which is certainly one of the most 

 important that Massachusetts farmers can consider. 



That it is one of the most important, I think you will all 

 agree. In co-operative dairying lies the best hope of the 

 farmino- towns remote from laro;e manufacturinof or comnier- 

 cial cities and villages. That this fact is realized, is sufliciently 

 evident from the steady and rapid increase of creameries in 

 such towns. 



The profits in the business, it is true, are not large. It 

 is to l)e hoped they may become larger when oleomargarine 

 is forced to " sail under its true colors; " but honest com- 

 petition, even now always increasing, will increase yet more 

 with enhanced profits. We have not in this comparatively 

 new branch of dairying, then, an agricultural bonanza. We 

 cannot allow wastes or leaks in this any more than in any 

 business, — agricultural or other, — and hope to keep our 

 heads above the current. We must make the best possible 

 use of all the products of the business. How closely the 

 animals slaughtered for food are worked up in the abattoir ! 

 Not an ounce is lost ; not only the flesh, skin and bones, but 

 even the blood, entrails, hair, hoofs and horns are all worked 

 into valuable products. Even the chips of leather and the 

 shavings of horns and hoofs come finally to the fertilizer- 

 maker's vats. 



At whatever business we look, the lesson is the same ; 

 it is by attention to what were once wastes that a profit is 

 now possible. The farmer's occupation is not exempt from 

 this necessity. It may some time come to be true, even 

 if this be not now the case, that upon the skillful and 

 economical use of the wrongly so-called "wastes" of the 

 dairy (there should be no waste, but rather by-products), 

 the profits of the dairy farmer will chiefly depend. 



The business of dairying in all its branches is a close 

 one ; it is simply a good method of marketing our crops. 

 We may not be able to figure a profit if we reckon food 

 at market prices ; but it should be remembered, that, 

 without this or some similar business, these back-town 



