ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 137 



ter to the foreign markets and sell it at a profit. We have made 

 nine shipments from our department of the best butter made in 

 the country, each shipment averaging about ten to fifteen thou- 

 sand pounds and all the information connected with that is 

 being gathered together and will be issued in a short time in 

 the shape of a bulletin and will be sent out widely over this 

 country, We are working on dairy breeds. There are several 

 other subjects that I might refer to but I will not take your 

 time. I was asked to prepare a paper for this meeting and 

 knowing that this is a section of country where a large amount 

 of milk is produced for the city market, I thought that a subject 

 best suited to the occasion might perhaps be. 



CITY MILK SUPPLY. 



As far back as history dates milk and its products are fre- 

 quently mentioned. It has always been regarded as an impor- 

 tant and necessary human food. The Bible often mentions 

 cheese made from camels' and goats' milk, and we are told that 

 Abraham entertained his supernatural visitors with a form of 

 butter when they were on their way to warn Lot. It may be 

 inferred that milk was in common use in those days and that it 

 was highly valued, for the sacred writers could find no stronger 

 terms, in addressing a pastoral people, concerning physical and 

 moral beauty, than the expression "milk and honey". 



For many centuries dairy farming has been a necessary and 

 interesting industry and its praises have continually been sound- 

 ed by poets and writers. History tell us that the wandering 

 Arab considered milk abundantly adapted to his needs. His 

 camel was always with him and she converted the tough, dry 

 shrubbery of the desert into a food acceptable at any time. The 

 Laplander and Siberian depend largely for their existence on the 

 scanty produce of their reindeer, and the inhabitants of the 

 mountainous parts of Europe keep sheep and goats for the same 

 purpose. In cultivated countries these animals are almost en- 



