146 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



to feed the calves and pigs at the top of the hill. I 

 have learned that her churn was anything but a "boss " 

 churn , that she marketed the butter twenty miles 

 away at 10 to 12c. per ft)., taking all the pay in gro- 

 ceries and dry goods. I am well aware that the practi- 

 cal dairy woman will see more beauty in a rough-boarded 

 old water tank under some wheezy old windmill, the 

 tank containing some Cooley cans sunk almost out of 

 sight in perhaps not very clear water — than in the pic- 

 ture memory brings to mind of the old stone spring 

 house with all its bright array of pans set in clear, cool, 

 sparkling water ; but 



"You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will, 

 But the scent of the roses will cling to it still." 



Time in his swift flight makes wonderful changes. 



The dairy of to day is quite another thing than my 



childhood dairy, but he has left untouched the innocent 



happiness of childhood. The boys and girls of to-day 



are just as happy as they were in my childhood days. 



The "little brown hands" still "drive home the cows 



from the pasture." 



" Up through the long shady lane, 



Where the quail whistles loud in the wheat-field 

 That is yellow with ripening grain 



They find in the thick waving grasses, 

 Where the scarlet-lipped strawberry grows, 



They gather the earliest snowdrops 

 And the first crimson buds of the rose." 



As a matter of course, all the children of our numer- 

 ous family learned the art of milking. There was one 

 dear, patient old cow on which six of us claim to have 

 learned the accomplishment. At any rate I recall two 

 bits of humanity struggling with great enjoyment, one 

 on each side of the gentle cow. However there came a 

 time when practising this accomplishment was not 

 quite so enjoyable — in the course of time, the fun de- 

 veloped into work. 



