Thirty-fourth Annual Convention. 



13 



In a section located as this is, the subject that will probably 

 receive a good deal of attention will be the cost of the raw 

 material. Chicago, of course, is paying a good deal attention 

 these days to this question of cost of the raw material, and while 

 the citizens of that great city are being called upon to pay an 

 advanced price for milk, we who have something to do with the 

 making of milk know what it costs. We know that five years 

 ago the price of all kinds of feed was, on the average, about 50 

 per cent less than today; we know that bran was sold at $10 or 

 $12 a ton and now; it is being sold for $20 ; we know corn was 

 25c. and is now 50c., and these are the two staples for making 

 a first-class article of milk. It is the foundation of feed for pro- 

 ducing that article. ' We know that ten years ago a very fair 

 cow could be bought for $40 ; what can you get today for $60 ? 

 We know that the work the University has done is weeding 

 out the poorer cows and helps us to see the folly of keeping 

 poor cows at any price. For that reason the good cows are sold 

 for more money, and they are worth it. Taking all these things 

 and the value of land into consideration, why should not milk 

 be worth to a producer today twice what it was five years ago? 

 It was because Marengo was in the heart of this territory that 

 furnishes Chicago milk that she was selected for a meeting 

 place this year. A great deal of complaint has come from Chi- 

 cago because milk has been advancing in price until today it is 

 selling for eight cents a quart. They say the farmers receive 

 less than four cents for it, so why should they as consumers give 

 twice that much for it? I would call attention to my farmer 

 friends who have ever tried to do business in a large city. If 

 you believe the criticism made by the consumers, tollow the 

 matter out and I believe you will be better satisfied that it costs 

 more to market this milk than it does to produce it. That may 

 be a very strong statement but I went into the subject very care- 

 fully and I think you will find I am right. 



I believe that in the city of Chicago the matter of keeping 

 teams of a large milk company is a very large item. If you 

 could see the figures for that one branch of the work alone it 

 would be very surprising. I have one firm in mind, the Ira 

 J. Mix Co., on the South side of Chicago, one of the companies 

 complained of by citizens there and through the grand jury 

 indicted, whose expense of maintaining their wagons and run- 



