96 ILLINOIS dairymen's ASSOCIATION. 



QUALITY OF PRODUCT. 



The profits^'of the dairy depend almost entirely upon the quality of the 

 butter and cheese produced, and no argument is needed to convince this 

 assemblage that a skillful butter and cheese maker is a necessity. 



The dairyman with the best of cows and with pastures admirably adapted 

 to the production of a maximum growth of the most nutritious grasses, fre- 

 quently fails for want of an experienced and skillful butter or cheese maker. 



The progressive dairyman will not be content until he obtains the highest 

 price for his butter or cheese. If the cause of failure rests with his manu- 

 facturer, a change is made. If his pastures are at fault the necessary drain- 

 age, seeding and other improvements are made without unnecessary delay. 

 If his cows, in quality and quantity of milk yield, are not up to the stand- 

 ard, the best representatives of the dairy breeds that his means will permit 

 are purchased. 



DAIRY statistics. 



A paper upon dairy farming in Illinois would not be complete without 

 some figures concerning this important and rapidly growing industry. 



The dairy interests of Illinois represent such an amount of capital, intel- 

 ligence, and so large and influential a population, as to entitle this industry 

 to much more consideration than it has heretofore received at the hands of 

 our legislators and the general public. 



According to the best authorities Illinois has— 



412 creameries and cheese factories and fixtures, constructed 



at an average cost of $3,000, making a total value of $1,536,000 00 



1,000,000 cows, average cost, $35 35,000,000 00 



Each cow requires from 4 to 5 acres of land to keep her the 

 year, say 4i, requiring 4,500,000 acres, at an average value 

 of $50 per acre 225,000,000 00 



To work this amount of land, care for the milk, would re- 

 quire 4,163 teams of two horses each, with wagons and 

 harness, estimated at $300 each team 1,248,900 00 



To feed 8,326 horses will require say 2i tons of hay each per 

 year, at $6 per ton, and 1,515,332 bushels of oats or its 

 equivalent 579,489 00 



To 250,000 farm milk cans for transportation of milk, at a 



cost of $3.50 each 870,000 00 



To 6,244 laborers or 3 to each 160 acres, at $432 per year, in- 

 cluding board 2,697,408 00 



Estimated amount invested by the dairymen of Illinois, for 



1883 $266,931,797 00 



In addition to the above it is safe to say that there are over three hund- 

 red thousand private creameries in the State, as in every farm house more 

 or less butter is made. 



There is no other article of food, excepting bread, that is so generally 



