ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN S ASSOCIATION. 51 



second crop speedily starts ; and then, also, is the proper 

 time to apply liquid manure by filtering on grass lands. 



In this country a lOO-acre farm that will keep thirty 

 cows is considered a good one. On the alluvial soils of 

 England, Belgium and Holland, farms under thorough cul- 

 ture by a system of soiling and a judicious application of 

 manure — solid and liquid — often keep two or three cows to 

 the acre, and two or three crops of grass are often cut 

 yearly. Heretofore the butter and cheese made in these 

 countries were far superior to American manufacture, owing 

 chiefly to their favorable climate, their practical knowledge 

 of farming, and the superiority of their cultivated grasses 

 and dairy stock. Recently America has made great strides 

 in the manufacture of dairy products, and now American 

 cheese competes fairly side by side with the best English- 

 made cheese in its own markets. The progress made in the 

 Western States during the last few years in the manufacture 

 of butter has been wonderful. Twenty years ago Illinois 

 was not considered capable of producing even a fair qu^llity 

 of butter. To-day she not only produces more wheat than 

 any other state in the Union — being for the last year 45,- 

 000,000 bushels, to Iowa 40,000,000, Nebraska 37,000,000, 

 Minnesota 36,000,000 and Kansas 30,000,000 — but she has 

 taken the front rank among the butter-producing states ; 

 and the butter now made in the creameries of northern 

 Illinois and in your own immediate neighborhood stands 

 higher in quality and sells for more in the great markets of 

 this country, than the butter made in any other state in 

 this great nation. 



A suggestion was made by one member that the 

 president call upon those who had received premiums on 

 their butter to give a description of their modes of making 

 the premium butter. As all present seemed to favor the 

 suggestion, the president called upon Mr. C. C. Buell, who 

 gave the following description of his plan : 



C. C. Buell's Method : The milk was set in ordinary 

 setters in a cool room — not in water. It was skimmed in 

 twenty-four hours, and skimmed the second time twelve 

 hours later. The cream was kept twenty-four to forty- 



