24 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN S ASSOCIATION. 



The first year the board was organized the sales of 

 butter and cheese amounted to ;^8i,ooo. Small as this is, 

 it gave great encouragement to the friends of the enter- 

 prise, for, had this been disposed of in the usual way, the 

 factorymen would have paid the commission men ;^4,050 for 

 the privilege (?) of selling their goods. With this showing 

 for the first year, all the factorymen who were within reach 

 of the board became members, and aided in sustaining it. 

 In 1873 the sales amounted to ^219,177.53 ; 1874, ^368,- 

 528.58; 1875,^496,220.04; 1876,^767,640.68; 1877, ;^ I, - 

 059,085.08; 1878, ;^755, 597.15. In the latter year there 

 were sold 120,821 boxes of cheese, aggregating 4,897,346 

 pounds, and 1,113,955 pounds of butter. The falling off in 

 sales in 1878 is due to the fact that many of the factorymen 

 failed to report their sales. Had they been as prompt in 

 reporting as they were in selling, the aggregate for the year 

 would have compared favorably with that of the previous 

 year. For the year ending with December, 1879, ^^^ sales 

 amounted to ;^5 39, 143.67. During this period there were 

 98,836 boxes of cheese, aggregating 3,648,314 pounds, and 

 977,879 pounds of butter, reported sold. Let us recapitu- 

 late, and see what the total sales have been since 1872, the 

 year the board was organized, to December, 1879. We 

 find that they aggregate ^4,286,392.72. At five per cent, 

 commission, the factorymen and dairymen, on that sum, 

 would be out of pocket ^214,319,63. Quite a respectable 

 sum ; and all saved by the board of trade, which has been 

 maintained during the past eight years at a cost of $2 per 

 member per year, a sum so trifling that none have felt it. 



The question may be asked, Why do not all factorymen 

 become members of the board, and share the benefits ? In 

 reply, let me state that but few factorymen in northern Illi- 

 nois are not members of the board, having long since 

 concluded that the advantages were far too great to be 

 neglected. Our membership is scattered from Chicago to 

 Pecatonica, and from the Wisconsin line, on the north, to 

 the C, B. & Q. railroad, on the south, which scope embraces 

 very nearly all the factories in the northern part of the state. 

 Many private creamerymen and dairymen are also members,, 

 as well as the irrepressible commission men of Chicago, St. 

 Louis and New York ; and, so far as is known, all are satis- 

 fied with the board, and believe that its organization has 

 been for the best. 



