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ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



S Whether we ha've widened that margin bj^ elevating; the average quality 

 ..and lowering tihe average cost ol the products and by-productsi of the 

 dairy and cream ©ry will dtetermdne thei quesition as to whether there has 

 or haS' not been any real progress, any very marked and permaneait im- 

 provement during the past decade. The supreme test upon which this 

 question may be detiermined is very simple. But two factors enter t<st 

 considei ition. First, there has been a real and noteworthy improve- 

 ment in the average quality of th gross output of the dairies and fac- 

 tories in this state and in the United States during the past decadfe; and 

 second, has the average cost of production been substantially reduced? 



The belief is everywhere current that theTe has been a very marked 

 limprovement in the quality of th c butter made in the United States dur- 

 ing the past decade. The improvement in the quality of the butter (or 

 oleo) served upon the tables in hotels and restaurants is the subject of 

 frequent remarks by travelers and among comimercial men who live "on 

 the road" and patronize hund'reds of hotels and restaurants every year. 

 These innocent, childlike, unsophisticated commercial tourists some- 

 times know more or less about the ways of the world, but they are bliss- 

 fully ignorant of the fact that from three-fourthsi to nine-tenths of the 

 substance called butter within the exclusive circle of their acquaintance 

 is an imitation. 



To the pure all things are^pure and honest and good report, and 

 these credulous knigihts of the road have been deceived'. The harmless' 

 analine d)y<e that has no mudi; the skillful salting and working that left 

 no mottles; and the just about right buttermilk flavor has transf ormedj 

 packinghouse refuse and cotton s eed oil into butter like mother ma'de in 

 a rare day in June in the long br ight days of childhood. The discrimin- 

 ating sense of color and aesthetic taste of the simple-minded commercial 

 tourist has been appealed to and gratified and now he unhestitatingly de- 

 clares that the dairy an'd' creamer industry has made wonderful im- 

 .provement in the past few years 



It is true that with the rapid growth of the industry creamery-tmadie 

 butter has displaced the farm dairy products almost entirely through 



