ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 159 



WOMAN'S BUTTERMAKER'S ASSOCIATION. 



MRS. E. A. STERLING, SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 



My paper tonight must from necessity be very short as it is a few plain 

 facts about our Woman's Buttermaker's Association. 



When I accepted your President's invitation to be present here at 

 Galesburg, I wrote him telling him I was only a plain farmer's wife, 

 never having done anything of this kind before and that I should be very 

 timid, but I would do the very best I could. 



Now I hope you will bear wilh me just a little while and I will tell 

 you something about our Sangamon County Buttermakers' Association. 

 In the latter part of August, 1898, there was a meeting called of all the 

 Buttermakers of Sangamon County in the city of Springfield. In answer 

 to that call about forty ladies and a very few gentlemen met together 

 and after listening to several good talks on buttermaking, we formed the 

 Sangamon County Buttermakers' Association, elected officers and decided 

 to hold a butter exhibit in the near future. Mrs. Eva Springer, Mrs. 

 Thomas Mather and myself were appointed as a committee to call upon 

 the merchants for the premiums we should offer for prizes at our ex- 

 hibit. 



We at first decided to have the butter Show the first of November, 

 but found that there was so much work attached to it that we could not 

 get ready for it before December 8th and 9th, 1898. Mrs. Springer and 

 myself were also appointed to go before the Grocers' Association to ask 

 them to cooperate with us. They were very kind to us, giving us $15 

 in money to be given as premiums, $5 on each of the separate stakes. 



On Wednesday, October 12th, the committee met and decided that we 

 must start out that very afternoon to solicit premiums. I assure you 

 that we were fainthearted, but after talking with one or two gentlemen 

 we gained courage, for they were all so interested in our work and done for 

 us more than we asked of them, and when evening came and we were 



