476 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
in the new world, has been the means of raising the standard of 
butter, and promoting its consumption in a marvelous degree. 
In 1862, the butter product of the United States was about 500,- 
000,000 pounds, of which we exported about 30,000,000. To-daj 
our annual product is estimated at from 700,000,000 to 1,000,0(^0,000 
of pounds, and we export scarcely anything. Butter factories have 
been carried int'^ many states, and although the plan of setting 
milk has been varied in regard to deep or shallow vessels, it would 
have been impossible to have developed this interest to its present 
vast proportions, if the associated system had not been inaugurated 
and applied to this branch of the dairy. 
It promoted an inquiry and desire for better things, and con¬ 
sumers, as they get a taste of the “ golden appetizer,” with its fine 
grainy texture and rosy aroma, become fond of it beyond measure, 
and they stimulate manufacturers to put forth their best efforts for 
perfection, by paying extraordinary prices for a “fancy article.” 
In 1863-4, the associated dairy system had become an established 
fact. Somehow, the impression became general among the farming 
community, that the dairy was reaping enormous profits. 
An intense interest prevailed, not only in New York, but in 
Ohio, Vermont, and other states, to obtain knowledge on the sub¬ 
ject, and this led to the inauguration of the “New York State 
Cheese Manufacturers’ Association.” A meeting was called at 
Rome, January 4, 1864, and the attendance was so large that it 
filled the largest hall in that city, delegates being present from sev¬ 
eral states. 
No such enthusiastic gathering of those interested in agriculture 
had ever been held in this country, and people went away from the 
meeting with the liveliest anticipation of amassing fortunes from 
the dairy. That year 210 new factories were erected in the state of 
New York alone, and the system was carried into other states. 
Subsequently the association was merged into the “ American Diary- 
men’s Association,” and state associations began to spring up in 
the different states. I need not speak of the success of these asso¬ 
ciations. Thousands of people flock to them year after year. They 
have created a dairy literature which, from its wide dissemination, 
has had a vast influence in educating tlie masses in this department 
of farming. 
Contrasting the flood of light which now illumines the path of 
