ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN^ ASSOCIATION. 2 7 
for violation of the laws or contracts, thus showing that we 
are quite a law-abiding set. This year we have a member¬ 
ship of one hundred and thirty-six, which is considerably 
more than we have ever had before, but we do not want it 
to stop here, but want all dairymen, all factorymen, and all 
dealers to join us, and, by so doing, aid in keeping Western, 
and especially Illinois products, in the first rank of the 
leading markets where they are sold. 
Factorymen who deal on the board have opportunities 
of becoming posted as to the state of the markets in all the 
leading cities, save Chicago, which, however, is so remote 
from us that the quotations might become stale before they 
reach us, hence we do not post prices on our bulletin board 
from that town. We also receive a regular telegram every 
Tuesday from New York city, giving us the state of the 
market there for the previous day. Thus the board en¬ 
deavors to inform the members of the state of trade in the 
different cities, but once in awhile factorymen become inde¬ 
pendent of these sources of information, and some “ fly ” 
dealer picks them up, and buys their product at figures 
below the market price. Being bitten once, they afterward 
try to steer clear of such breakers. 
The meetings, as a rule, are quiet and orderly, and a 
stranger, unacquainted with our way of doing business, 
would imagine that we never get up a boom in butter and 
cheese; but it is said that still waters run deep, and the 
days we have the heaviest sales we have the least noise ; in 
fact, when there is business on the board, there is no time 
for noise or idle talk. 
It would require too much time to give the personnel 
of some of the more prominent members of the board, 
although I believe it would prove highly interesting to 
many, and perhaps at a future meeting I may give a pen 
picture of the bulls and bears of the Elgin board of trade, 
and thus complete the “ acts and doings ” of that now 
famous institution. 
In conclusion, let me call your attention to a tabular 
statement of the sales, by months, during the year 1879, 
together with the average .price of butter and cheese; the 
highest and the lowest price of each. To some these 
figures will be an important study, and, I believe, will be of 
interest to all: 
