ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 155 



and powerful — I say we are apt to forget that she stands ane of 

 the first in the galaxy of states as a dairy state. 



We are apt to forget that within her confines is the Elgin 

 butter board that fixes the price of butter, not only here in Illinois, 

 but in the entire Middle West. That situated as she is, almost 

 mid-way between the great oceans, Illinois has a commanding 

 influence in controlling the dairy markets of the Middle West, and 

 Chicago, being the Empire City of all this vast country, located 

 on Lake Michigan as she is — Illinois and Chicago — when meas- 

 ured by time and performance as to production and trade in dairy 

 products, not only as to quantity but quality, lead the markets of 

 the civilized world. 



I feel complimented also by having Illinois called a dairy 

 state, because I know and you know that those states where the 

 dairy interests are the largest are the most powerful and prosper- 

 ous. You go into the counties of Illinois which are largely dairy 

 counties and you find the average value of farm lands has almost 

 doubled by reason of their industries. Go into the counties and 

 you find the farms in good condition, with good barns and good 

 houses and that the mortgages are pretty scarce among those 

 people. 



It has been my good fortune, as Dairy and Food Commis- 

 sioner, to live in a state where the people are learning to compre- 

 hend and understand the character and value of the dairy 

 interests. 



A good deal of our development in the dairy industry has 

 been due to the State Dairymen's Association. I am going to refer 

 to this because I suppose you want to know what it is that has 

 made Illinois one of the first dairy states in the union. 



It so happened that about thirty-one years ago the State 

 Dairymen's Association was organized. Its members went at it 

 not for the purpose of placing themselves before the public, not 

 with any political axes to grind, but to see what they could do 



