1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



63 



ural that the latter should strive to increase the 

 weight of their fleeces, even by the addition of 

 grease, when they found that manufacturers did 

 not appear to make the distinction. Such now is 

 the prejudice against this class of wool, wit'i deal- 

 ers and manufacturers, that it is hard to induce 

 one to look at a pile of Vermont wool. 



May not this account for the complaint of the 

 OhioFarmer, recorded in the "Agricultural Items," 

 in the New Englanl Fapmer, of 14th ult., viz. : 

 "Three years ago I put $2000 into Vermont sheep, 

 and now I cannot get $.300 for them." 



MILK PBODUCEBS. 



An adjourned meeting of the Milk Produc- 

 ers' Association was held at Mcionian Hall, in 

 this city, Thursday, Dec. 26. There was an 

 attendance of some two or three hundred dele- 

 gates of clubs and neighborhoods, and indi- 

 vidual milk producers. The President of the 

 Association, Lyman Belknap Esq., of West- 

 boro\ was not present at the opening of the 

 meeting, and the senior Vice President, J. W. 

 Robertson, Esq. , of Quincy, acted as chairman 

 of the convention. 



After the election of W. Ramsdell, of Mil- 

 ford, N. H., as one of the Directors of the 

 Association, and after some general remarks 

 by several g(intlemen as to the purposes, ob- 

 jects and work of the Association, D. Rounds, 

 Esq., from the committee appointed by the 

 previous meeting to prepare a Constitution and 

 suitable By-Laws for the government of the 

 Association made a report which was accepted. 

 Each article was then taken up separately, 

 freely and ably discussed, and after some 

 alterations, the following was adopted by the 

 Association as its constitution and by-laws : — 



Constitution. 



Preamble. — Believing the right way to pro- 

 mote the interests of any community financially, 

 is to cncoui-age the producers of that community, 

 by securing to them a full and just recompense 

 for their hibor, skill and capital invested; there- 

 fore, we, the Milk Producers of Massachusetts and 

 New Hampshire do organize ourselves into a mu- 

 tual benetit association, and bind ourselves to be 

 governed Ijy the following Constitution and Laws : 



Akt. I.— This society shall be called "The Milk 

 Producers' Association." 



Art. II.— Its oflicei-s shall consist of a President, 

 three Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, and 

 seven Directors, who shall be chosen annually in 

 the city of Boston, on the first Tuesday in Decem- 

 ber, and shall be so distributed as to equitably rep- 

 resent each section of the Milk producing terri- 

 tory interested in this association. 

 Art. III. — 1. The President shall preside over the 

 meetings of the Association and Executive Board, 

 when not necessarily absent, but in case of absence 

 the senior Vice President present shall take the 

 chair and perform the duties of the presiding offi- 

 cer. 



2. The Secretary shall keep a record of the pro- 

 ceedings of each meeting of the Association, and 



ports of committees, and conduct whatever corres- 

 pondence the business of the Association may re- 

 quire. 



3. The Treasurer shall have in his custody all the 

 funds of the Association and disburse the same upon 

 the order of the Secretary, countersigned by the 

 President. He shall also present at each annual 

 meeting, and oftener if required, a clear and accu- 

 rate statement of the financial condition of the As- 

 sociation, and as his office is one of trust and 

 responsibility he shall be required to give ))onds 

 with at least two satisfactory sureties for the faith- 

 ful performance of the duties of his office. 



4. All the ofiacers of the Association shall con- 

 stitute its Executive Board, and it shall be their 

 duty to meet quarterly, and oftener if the interests 

 of the Association require, also, to confer with the 

 purchasers of milk, an d establish once in six months 

 the price at which milk shall be sold by the mem- 

 bers of the Association, to be governed by the fol- 

 lowing consideration, viz : the cost of toLd, — the 

 time of year, — the distance from market, and 

 the expense of transpoftation. 



Art. IV. — The annual meeting of this Associa- 

 tion shall l)e held in the city of Boston on the first 

 Tuesday in December, at which meeting the Board 

 shall present its annual report ; after which the or- 

 der of business shall be as follows : — 



1. The report of the Treasurer. 



2. The election of oflficei-s. 



3. The transaction of such business as may relate 

 strictly to the objects of this Association. 



Other meetings of the Association mav be held 

 during the year should the Board deem it expedi- 

 ent to call the same, or should a request be made 

 in writing by not less than fifteen members. 



Art. V. — Milk producers directly interested in 

 the objects of this Association may become mem- 

 bers of the same, by signing the Constitution and 

 Laws, and paying into the Treasury one dollar, 

 and shall thereupon receive a certificate of member- 

 ship which shall entitle him to vote personally or 

 by proxy at all its meetings. 



Art. VI. — Alterations or amendments may be 

 made to this Constitution by a vote of two thirds 

 of the members present at any annual meeting. 



By-Laws. 



1. As order is essential to expedition in the 

 transaction of business in a deliberative body, 

 therefore this Asssociation will observe those rules 

 which are generally regarded as law in parliamen- 

 tary debate. 



2. No member shall be allowed to speak more 

 than ten minutes upon any one motion unless by 

 mutual consent the time shall be extetidcd. 



From the somewhat extended discussii/.i 

 which resulted during the consideration of the 

 constitution of this Association, we inferred that 

 the immediate cause of the present movemcit 

 was a proposed reduction of the price of miik, 

 on the part of the dealers in the article, for 

 the present winter. 



It was stated that although the cost of cows 

 and hay had about doubled within foLu* or five 

 years, milk is now actually sold for less money 

 in currency than it formerly brought in gold. 

 Though the farmers sell by the old fashioned 

 quart, the dealers sell by the wine measure, — 

 about cue-fifth less. In Derry, N. H., for the 

 six summer months, the can of eight large, or 



its Board of Officers ; and shall preserve all re- 1 over ten small quarts, was sold for thirty cents. 



