THE DAIRY. • 105 



and they are therefore somewhat diffident of their own conclu- 

 sions. The premiums were awarded, as far as we couhl judge, 

 to such as made tlie most imiform cheeses of good quality. The 

 entries showed generally that cheese-making, in this county, was 

 to a great extent a matter of luck, and not of science, nor that 

 exact knowledge which leads a woman usually to make good 

 bread if she has fair materials. We would therefore recommend 

 that the requirement of fifty pounds of cheese be modified. 



This difference in the products of the same dairy from day to 

 day exemplifies the necessity and utility of cheese factories, 

 •which are now so common in New York and the "West, and 

 numbers of which are also found in Worcester County. Though 

 not entirely uniform, owing to changes in season, weather and 

 the feed of animals, the result has shown that the product of 

 cheese factories, conducted by persons who make its manufacture 

 their sole business, is more uniform and brings higher prices 

 than that of private dairies. It was our intention to condense 

 into this report a description of the formation and management 

 of cheese and butter factories, but the agricultural papers have 

 given such full accounts of them since our exhibition, that they 

 must have already commended themselves to all intelligent 

 farmers, who would have taken a hint from this report. Suffice 

 it to say, that we believe that one or more cheese factories could 

 be sustained in this county, and we ask the serious attention of 

 .some of our most enterprising farmers to the matter. 



The awards, so far as they have any value, seem to indicate 

 that the farms, or the farmers' wives, of Middleborough and 

 Bridgewater excel in butter, while those of Halifax excel in 

 cheese. The awards were agreed upon without knowing the 

 names of the competitors. 



Chaeles G. Davis, Chairman. 



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