»5o ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



pounds of excellent butter, which appeared oni the fair ground in October 

 in good condition. The marvelous preservation was due, no doubt, to the 

 fact that bacteria had not been discovered, or possibly the bacteria had 

 not learned at that date that they could live in butter and propogate. 

 From this statement it must appear that if the early settlers had had the 

 skill of the modern daryman to breed dairy cattle on dairy lines, we 

 might have today in Illinois a breed of the lineal descendants of these pio- 

 neer cov/s, and from their keeping products would excel the later breeds. 



Men on this Committee were wise in their generation for they com- 

 plimented very highly and gave a premium to a team of five yoke of oxen, 

 A remarkably strong team, and the committee suggested "the propriety 

 of using more oxen and less horse labor on the farm." Think of this in 

 Illinos as late of 1854. 



Another remarkable exhbit at this State Fair in 1854 and the only 

 •dairy implement on exhibition was a thermometer churn. Just what it 

 was like we were unable to learn, but it never came into use, for the but- 

 termakers of that period knew well enough that without such contri- 

 vances that sometimes the cream needed warm water to make the butter 

 come, and sometimes cold water, and if the churn had been bewitched, 

 or the cows bewitched, that neither hot nor cold water would have any 

 effect, and if the cream itself was bewitched and would grow and grow 

 as it was churned until the churn was full even to running over, that a 

 good churn was worth more than all the thermometers in the market. 



There were, however, all through these years some good butter- 

 makers, good housekeepers, who, in spite of all their unfavorable envir- 

 onments, knew how to do the rig nt thing at the right time to accomplish 

 the desired end. These few kept alive a taste for good butter, and the 

 demand was always greater than the supply. 



The rapid growth of Chicago and the natural advantages of northern 

 Illinois and southern Wisconsin invited the practical dairyman from 

 eastern states and stimulated investment in dairy farms and herds. These 

 men realized the value of good dairy products, and the drag upon the mar- 

 ket of inferior stock. They believed in co-operation and the education of 



