ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 17 



separator hand or power will enable the farmers to get the skim 

 milk sweet and to produce a good cream for a gathered cream- 

 ery. In other localities the system of small skim-stations will 

 be found profitable, where large separator creameries are hardly 

 justified as yet. 



Not that I want to do away with, but I hope to see all poor 

 private dairying replaced by the above system. 



We have, thanks to the National Dairy Union and its lead- 

 ing workers in the state, Chas. Y. Knight, Geo. Linn, H. B. 

 Gurler, George Reed and many others, secured the anti-color, 

 Oleo law, but unless we can secure a dairy commissioner, with 

 sufficient funds to prosecute, it remains virtually a dead letter. 

 There is at present retailed more colored butterine than ever in 

 Chicago. 



The filled cheese manufacture does not seem to increase, 

 and I believe the manufacturers are complying with the law. 

 Its place is taken, to a great extent, by a more or less hard 

 skimmed cheese, where water is made to take the place of fat to 

 a certain extent. 



While prices have been low, the average of the year will 

 surely show an improvement and the experiment shipments made 

 by the Dairy Division have confirmed me in the belief that if we 

 make the butter clean-flavored, with a good keeping quality, 

 there is no reeson why it should be sold for less than i 5 cents at 

 any time. It is better to export at that price than to fill the 

 refrigerators and depress the markets later on. We must not 

 look for high prices, but make up our minds to make better 

 butter and cheaper. This can best be done if the farmers will 

 take the trouble to test the cows and keep a record and take 

 better care of the milk. To encourage this I recommend a 

 monthly perambulating dairy school. 



In this connection I regret that an otherwise perfectly hon- 

 est and meritorious business is being abused and threatens to 

 hurt our creamery butter. I refer to the new process of melting 

 old rancid dairy butter and rechurning it. Some manufacturers 

 quote and sell it honestly as imitation creamery, while others 



