ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 95 



nated that they work their muscles so hard, and when it comes to think- 

 ing could not do it, would rather sleep instead, and there is no question 

 but what we have done too much of that. Many of us can remember when 

 a little way out from Fox river land was so cheap we didn't want to buy it, 

 but the change has come and now i t is worth $75 and $100 an acre. We need 

 to pirt more brain work and less muscles on the farms now. 



Now I will take up this question of milking. How many farmers, 

 when theyl quit their worj^ on the farm and go to milking, think of clean- 

 ing their hands, no matter what they have been doing. What would we 

 think if our wives would go out and get milk and then go in and go into 

 the cooking without washing their hands. 



I remember one time when I was fixing up a skimming station. The 

 woman would start out in the morning, in the latter part of May, to milk 

 the cows. The cow was not clean at that time of the year. She came in 

 and never stopped to wash her hands and went to getting breakfast in 

 the condition that she had finished milking; put her hands into the food. 

 After that I ate potatoes with the skins on and eggs in the shell, and I 

 haven't got a weak stomach either. But what I wish to impress on your 

 minds is the fact that we have no business to milk without cleaning our 

 hands, and also the udder of the cow. I don't expect we are all going to 

 make high grade milk for babies and invalids, but do, for pities' sakes, 

 improve on what many of us are doing. It would take but a few minutes 

 to clean the udders with a sponge and a little warm water and have 

 things respectable. There is no need of being so confounded filthy as we 

 are. The trouble is, the men who are doing this dirty work don't get 

 where we can get at them. 



Now I will tell you a little of my own experience. Last August I 

 got a letter from abroad requesting me to send some milk. The idea of 

 me sending milk across the Atlantic with any expectation of getting it 

 there sweet. I put it up the evening of August 29th, milk taken without 

 any especial care, took the milk as it came in for the milk bottles, not 

 knowing what cows it come from. When I got ready I took samples of 

 milk right from those bottling machines and put them into cases and they 



