44 ILLINOIS STATE DAIKYMEN's ASSOCIATION. 



spread calamities, the innocent with the guilty suffer. It will require 

 years of faithful welldoing in the manufacture of superior cheese to 

 restore the valuable fame which this vicinity enjoyed in the produc- 

 tion of cheese, a few years ago, and the prosperity then existing 

 among dairymen. 



As to the prices charged, they are the same generally as charged 

 eight or nine years ago. By combination and shrewdness the pro- 

 prietors of factories have managed to maintain their prices in the 

 face and notwithstanding the heavy decline in the price of butter and 

 cheese, in labor, and in property generally and in the profits of busi- 

 ness generally. The proprietor— with less capital employed than any 

 one of his patrons owning his farm and dairy, say 160 acres and 40 

 cows — probably made more money the past summer and fall than all 

 his patrons out of their dairy business. The prices charged are prob- 

 ably nearly double the fair value of the services rendered. 



It is superfluous to adduce any facts or reasons to convince 

 dairymen of this vicinity, particularly those who were engaged in 

 the business previous to the establishment of the board of trade, 

 that it is, as a general rule, unwise to send butter or cheese to com- 

 mission men to be sold on commission. Experience admonishes all 

 that loss is almost certain to ensue when butter or cheese is sentoflf 

 to be sold on commission. The goods should be retained in the fac- 

 tory until they are sold. This is one reason why they should be 

 manufactured so they can be kept without injury, and proper storage 

 provided at the factory. 



The less middlemen to be paid in the prosecution of any busi- 

 ness the better. Dairymen seem to have overlooked this fact. 

 Probably in no other business can so many middlemen be found as 

 in the dairy business. When the butter and cheese of the dairyman 

 are not made separately by himself, but with others at a factory, what 

 is wanted is help — laborers, butter and cheese makers — and not men 

 merely to do the figuring, selling, and receiving the lion's share of 

 the profits. Dairymen are capable of carrying on their own business 

 — transacting all of it, and the sooner they unload all middlemen the 

 easier and faster wii". be thei'i progress to prosperity. 



Now, what is the remedy for the financial infelicity of the 

 dairymen ? 



For some of the untowaiu urcumstauces encompassing them it 

 is likely remedies may be found in the suggestions already made. 



