ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 187 



ter of business to do what he otherwise would consider an 

 unmitigated bore. 



It teaches him how to feed for profit. It enables him to 

 compare his own herd with the herds of other farmers, and the 

 comparison stimulates him to do better. The co-operative 

 creamery is most certainly a blessing to the farmers' wives and 

 daughters, as it relieves them of all the cares of butter making. 

 One housewife said to the president of a creamery the other 

 day : " I'll give all my old shoes if you will get my husband to 

 " send his cream to your creamery." 



The cash returns come in frequently, and they Jead the 

 farmer to regard the dairy department, more in the light of 

 a business than he ever did before, not as a side shoot too insig- 

 nificant for him to engage his time upon. 



The creamery system, as it has existed, and does to a great 

 extent exist to-day, has worked wonders in improving the dairy 

 butter of the country, but the recent developments in New Eng- 

 land show most conclusively that there is yet great room for 

 improvement ; that the best results are not attained by the present 

 methods in the west. 



It is no exaggeration to state that not 50 per cent, of the actual 

 value of the milk produced in Illinois, converted into butter, is 

 realized by the farmers throughout the state. Within the past 

 few years the farmers of New England have been establishing 

 co-operative creameries on a new plan, and their success has 

 been so great, and they have in consequence become so numer- 

 ous that within the last two years their butter product has 

 become a very important factor in the great markets of the east, 

 and is beginning to have a perceptible effect on the prices of 

 the best western product. From a small commencement a few 

 years ago the co-operative creamery in the eastern states has 

 now become a formidable competitor in the New York and 

 Boston markets, and the number of creameries is not only in- 

 creasing with unprecedented rapidity, but those already estab- 

 lished are extending their business with astonishing strides, in 

 unmistakable indication of success. They are disclosing new 



