12 
ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN^ ASSOCIATION. 
considered no effort too great to so thoroughly acquaint themselves with the 
business that they might be able to produce an article, the excellence of which 
could not be questioned in any market, and they were always ready to impart 
to the new beginners all the knowledge they had obtained. As factories 
began to multiply conventions were held, that the manufacture of cheese and 
the preparation of the milk and the care of the dairy might be discussed, and 
the experience and experiments of each might be made beneficial to the 
whole. 
These efforts to build up the character of the dairy products of the W est 
at last won success. It was discovered that the commission houses of 
Chicago, to whom the largest portion of the cheese was consigned, had begun 
to brand and sell them as New York Factory cheese. But while the dairy¬ 
men no doubt felt flattered by this favorable opinion of their product 
expressed in this unequivocal manner by those excellent judges, the Chicago 
dealers, they could not see, if their cheese was good enough to be classed 
as New York Factory, why they should not receive as good a price as the 
New York producer. The great point however was gained which the 
Western cheese maker had been seeking to obtain—the recognized excellence 
of the Western product. That being avowed the price in market would soon 
be regulated. 
The factory system proving so successful, new factories were erected on 
every hand. Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and all the Western States, prof¬ 
iting by our experience, engaged in it more or less extensively, and to such 
vast proportions has this dairy business attained, that many fear that as in 
the case of shipping milk to Chicago, the supply will soon exceed the 
demand. Every year the question is asked, What will be done with the 
enormous amount of cheese that will be put upon the market, and every 
year thus far the question has been answered by an advance in price and an 
increased demand. 
The cause of this increased consumption is manifest. While the dairymen 
have been endeavoring to produce a superior article, the consumer seems to 
have appreciated their effort, and instead of the pungent old cheese of former 
years being used merely as a condiment, now rich and nutritious cheese is 
becoming a staple article of food; cheaper and more nourishing than meats; 
requiring no preparation for the table, and capable of transportation to any 
climate. The densely populated countries of Europe are becoming aware of 
its value, and in order to avail themselves of the condensed richness of our 
Western prairies, we find them buyers upon our local dairy Boards of Trade, 
and the Western dairyman looks up the Liverpool quotations before making 
a sale of his cheese. 
While Europe has thus become a customer, steam and the telegraph are 
bringing the teeming millions of Asia commercially within our reach, and 
the time is not far distant when the energetic Anglo Saxon element will 
penetrate and dominate in those same civilized countries, carrying with them 
and impressing upon the peoples of those countries their habits and tastes, 
