ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 7 
• * 
This rail road reached Elgin in the winter of 1849-30 and in the 
pring of the last named year a farmer from Orange County, New York, 
;onceived the idea of sending milk to Chicago by rail. He immediately 
ommenced the undertaking. 1 o him is the credit not only due for 
jpening up the milk trade ot this section, but also that of originating the 
irst can ever made west ol the great lakes for the transportation of 
nilk. T. he same form and size of can is now in universal use in 
his state, as well as in many of the other western states. Little 
lid we thinx when we saw that one can of milk which was being 
run died down to the depot in that old ox cart, what a river of milk 
vas being tapped in this vicinity, and that it would so soon develop 
ito such mammoth dimentions. 
Think you of the thirty years ago when some of our farmers at 
- as t weie on the great cereal road to financial ruin. Many there were 
yho were unable to squarely bring the year round, and not a few had 
ncumbered their farms. 
At this juncture the mother of the Bovine family of animals put in her 
ppeaiance as a God send. She with her fine lacteal flow has furnished 
he means to raise the mortgages, to erect fine buildings in the place of 
^°se old dilapidated ones ot by gone years. She has also produced 
n essential factor in the enrichment of the farm soil. We are of the 
pinion that the farms in the dairy districts of this state, have largely 
icreased in intrinsic value by the amount ot animal deposits which 
ley have received from time to time by the present mode of farming. 
Cato, the Censor, who lived and flourished over two thousand vears 
go being asked the best method of enriching a country answered 
y feeding cattle. We think we have good reason for believing 
lere is not a dairyman in Northern Illinois, who has ever given this 
abject a thought but will admit the soundness of Cato’s opinion. 
One need not go outside of the farm field to be fully satisfied that 
;ie section of our state where dairies have been successfully operated 
>r the last few years that the farm lands are in far better condition 
) produce a valuable crop of nearly or quite all the cereal grains 
lan they were twenty-five or thirty years ago. 
Look at our corn, compare the soundness of the kernel with that 
used on lands where the soil has not been quickened by animal 
eposits, and we are led to believe the most casual observer will be 
Dnvinced of the benefit of stock for the farm, other than solely that 
f making milk. 
If this be so then in figuring up our profits or loss we should take 
ito account the increased productive value of the soil. 
It is a well settled fact that some kinds of crops exhaust the soil 
2ry much more than others. For the purpose of inviting your atten- 
on more thoroughly to this subject we have appended a few com- 
ansons. Suppose we take two acres of dried timothy hay allowing 
y* m tons P er acre we have three tons or 6,000 pounds, the ash of 
hich would be 317.16. pounds. We next take the same number of 
pres, tons and pounds, of dried red clover, the ash of which would be 
f.8.68. pounds. 
Then two acres of the berry of wheat allowing 25 bnshels to the 
:re which would give us 3,000. pounds, the ash of which would be 
