ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



15 



and expense of the exhibit. I am quite in favor of encouaraging the 

 exhibitors at our State Dairy Association meetings so that the Dairymen 

 that attend these meetings can see the latest improved machinery in the 

 dairy line, in connection with the dairy meeting, which a majority of 

 them would never see, were they not exhibited at the State Dairy Asso- 

 ciation meeting. It may be an incentive for some of them at least to 

 get out of the old ruts they have been in for years, and adopt the latest 

 developments in dairying. 



I consider that the dairy lines or transportation companies have 

 helped largely to develop the dairy industry of this country. We have 

 new refrigerator car service quite satisfactory to the shipper. Our but- 

 ter can be loaded in refrigerator cars in Nebraska, Minnesota, or Iowa, 

 and come out in Boston or New York in as good condition as when loaded, 

 in the hottest weather of the season. As the demand has increased for 

 refrigerator service it has been furnished by the railroad companies. 



Owing to the fact that the creamery managers in Illinois, the north- 

 ern part especially, contract or se'.l their butter at Elgin Board of Trade 

 prices, there is but a small percentage of the make of butter in Illinois 

 sold by commission men. For that reason our Association meetings are 

 not as well attended by the commission men, as the meetings of some of 

 our sister states. We appreciate their presence, however, and they are 

 always welcome. 



Owing to the high price of beef for the past years, many farmers 

 have sold their cows and heifers, I am sorry to say, instead of keeping 

 and milking them. A dairy farmer is sure of money the year round, pro- 

 vided he gives his cows proper care and feed. Go where you will in a 

 dairy district and you will iind good houses, barns, and other out build- 

 ings, and also good fertile farms. Can you say that of the grain farms in 

 Illinois? I say no. The cow is the most profitable stock on the farm 

 without a doubt. The only drawback in dairy business at the present 

 time is the scarcity of farm labor. Such has been the prosperity in thiiS 

 country the past year, that farm labor has not been obtainable to do the 

 work. This in a measure accounts for the decrease in the production of 

 butter in the past year throughout the United States. 



