34 



REPORT ON ESSAYS. 



The Committee on Essays have to regret that no more papers 

 are submitted to them for examination. They believe that the 

 object of the Society in printing an annual volume of Transactions, 

 can in no better way be promoted, than by the publication of in- 

 structive and suggestive Essays upon subjects of interest and im- 

 portance to the farmers of the county. They would urge upon 

 members the care of preparing such articles, or of procuring them 

 from others ; and, as an inducement thereto, would recommend 

 the offer of larger premiums for Essays than have hitherto been 

 given. 



The Essay on " Cheese Factories," presented by Mr. E. A. 

 Samuels, is a well-prepared and useful paper, upon a subject of 

 much interest to the farmers of Norfolk, and the Committee award 

 him therefor the premium often dollars. 



For the Committee, 



CHARLES C. SEWALL, Chairman. 



Medfield, Dec. 15, 1865. 



CHEESE FACTORIES. 



BY E. A. SAMUELS. 



The establishment of cheese factories in this and other North- 

 ern States has already demonstrated to farmers and others inter- 

 ested in the productions of the dairy that the factory system yields, 

 taking every thing into consideration, the largest possible pecuni- 

 ary returns to the producer ; and as the subject attracts greater 

 attention, and the working of the system becomes better under- 

 stood, its introduction is being agitated in various localities, and 

 the establishment of several new factories in this State may rea- 

 sonably be anticipated during the coming year. 



The matter is of sufficient importance to receive the attention of 

 the farmers of Norfolk county, who, possessing not the best grazing 

 lands in the State, and depending on their dairy products for 

 meeting a great portion of the current expenses of the year, have, 

 nevertheless, genei-ally allowed them to pass from their hands 

 without receiving for them nearly their true value. The loss, in 

 many cases, has been very considerable ; and it is to demonstrate 

 this as much as to give a brief description of the factory sys- 

 tem as it now exists, that this paper has been prepared. 



Let us, in the first place, approximately ascertain the amount 

 of milk produced in the county. 



