144 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMENS ASSOCIATION. 



years of practical experience, and from personal experience and obser- 

 vation as well, w>e feel fully warranted in saying that there has been 

 no substantial improvement in the quality of milk delivered at the fac- 

 tories or the milk S'upply of cities or use in farm' dairying, or the qual- 

 itly of the butter and cheese prod uced in the farm dairy or factory in the 

 past five and! probably ten years, and apart from- the advantage gained 

 by the very general adoption of the factory method, where one skilled 

 man using modern machinery can do the work of many, little' has been 

 gained in economy of production. The scores upon which prizes have 

 been and are being won and the a verage scores in the exhibits of butter 

 and cheese at state fairs, state dairymen's^ associations and the annual 

 meeting of the National Association of Butterm'akers, prove that the 

 quality of dairy products has not improved, and the reason is' not fiar 

 to seek. 



'The quality of the butter and' cheese which comes from the churn 

 and the press is determined abs olutel>i in the case of extras' by the 

 quality of the milk which goes i nto the weighcan. The' quality of the 

 milk has not improved, neither has the average cost of production been 

 lowered, and it is claimed by some of the most practical creamerymen 

 in the Elgin district and in the best regions of Wisconsin and Iowa that 

 the average quality of the milk now delivered is not equal to the aver- 

 age quality ten years ago. 



Doubtlessi this statement of facts is in agreement with the exper- 

 ience and observation of every p ra'Ctical 'dairyman and creameryman 

 when applied to the average quality of dairy products and the average 

 cost of production, and it reveals a condition of the dairy and creamery 

 industry which is not hopeful an d assuring., It shows us' there is much 

 that is radically at fault in the methods practiced, much that i<s funda- 

 mentally wrong in the present condition. Worst of all the conditiO'U 

 has become chronio and the prospects for an early improvemeint which 

 Is conditioned upon a general removal of the causes which have 

 brought about this condition, and which have long stoo'd and noinr stand 

 in the way of the normal development and prosperity of the industry, 



