76 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



This question of education is one that is constantly before 

 the people who are beginning to look at it in a different way 

 than they did only a few years ago. Our buttermakers are wak- 

 ing up to the fact that a special training is necessary to best fit 

 them for their work. We find them flocking into the agricul- 

 tural colleges taking special courses. They are endeavoring to 

 put themselves abreast of the latest thought to get the benefit of 

 the best experience. Dairymen, as a class, are taking more in- 

 terest in better cows, more rational feeding, modern methods and 

 improved machinery, principally because they add to their profits, 

 and this awakening is largely due to the influence of the State 

 University. 



We have in Illinois one of the best educational systems of 

 any state or of any country. We have first the graded, then 

 the high schools, and, crowning all, the University of Illinois at 

 Urbana. The university is divided into a number of different 

 colleges and schools, and one of the foremost, and the one in 

 which we are most interested, is the agricultural college, which 

 has nearly four hundred students. About 74 of these are taking- 

 dairy husbandry, some taking several classes on the subject, be- 

 cause our work there is divided into courses or classes. For in- 

 stance, there is a course in dairy cattle, in which the students 

 learn about the different breeds, their characteristics, their 

 strong points, and the handling of these breeds. There are 

 courses in testing milk, and other dairy products in buttermaking, 

 in cheesemaking, in advanced work in factory management, and 

 a course pertaining to the handling of milk for the city trade, 

 and so on, as we endeavor to cover the field of dairying from 

 the production to the final disposal of the milk, whether it is 

 used in the retail trade or manufactured into butter or cheese. 



Now any student or any citizen of Illinois can take advan- 

 tage of these facilities ; he can acquire a university education if 

 he wants to do it. If there is a will to obtain a university educa- 

 tion he will find the way. A few weeks ago I was talking with 

 a student in his senior year, who wanted to go to one of the 

 other universities and conduct a class. He told me he started 



