184 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



There is nothing in the whole situation that indicates that we 

 will ever reach the time w^hen there will not be a market, and a 

 good market, for dairy products. It would surprise you to know 

 how very short this supply of what is called 'extra' butter is in 

 Chicago. The butter, when it reaches the market, is graded: 

 'extras' are called the best, — then there are 'firsts' and 'sec- 

 onds' and so on, all graded according to quality just the same 

 as wheat is graded into No. i, 2, 3, etc. Most of the people 

 in the cities and in the towns never get better than a fifst grade 

 of butter. The restaurants that will pay a high price, and there 

 are not many of them; the few hotels that can charge very 

 high prices and get a trade from wealthy people, are in the 

 market all the time for what is called 'extra' butter and they 

 will take all that the market supplies and want more than they 

 can get. 



The people, generally, w^ant a better grade of dairy prod- 

 ucts than they are getting, and they will pay for that better 

 grade, so that there isn't any chance in years to come of the pro- 

 duction of dairy products ever catching up with the demand, 

 and that is true because the demand is going to increase as fast 

 as the production, and even faster. 



The statistics show us today that the production of dairy 

 products in this country is not keeping up with the increase of 

 population and demand. The tendency has been towards the 

 cities and the increases in population in those centers are taking 

 all that the farms produce and demanding more than they can 

 get, and that is why we have the extremely high prices today 

 and why we hear so much about the high cost of living. We 

 are not getting from the farms anywhere near the supply of 

 food products, especially dairy products, that the markets are 

 demanding. 



The dairy business, as I said before, wants to be put on a 

 business basis, and when it is so organized and conducted as 

 an organized business the rewards are certain, the building 

 up of your farm in soil fertility is certain; you are not robbing 

 your land when dairying as you are now doing by grain rais- 

 ing. In dairying the farmer is keeping up his land fertility and 

 engaging in a business that will give him a profit and make 

 money for his family and also provide a future for them. 



