434 
STATE AGRICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
If you can afford to purchase cheese from New York dairy farms which 
are selling from one hundred to two hundred dollars per acre, paying for the 
transport of the article West, it would seem at least that you have plenty of 
money, (wihch of course we are willing to take) though, to tell the truth we 
think it rather extravagant on your part. 
From the best information we can get, the cheese product of 1867, from 
the whole dairy district of the United States, amounted to 200,000,000 of 
pounds. Nearly half of this product was made in the State of New York. 
Between 1840 and 1860 American cheese began to be shipped abrood, the 
first shipment having been inaugurated by Herkimer county dealers. 
In 1848-49 the exports of American cheese to Great Britain, were a little 
over 16,000,000 of pounds. Much of the cheese manufactured that year was 
poor in quality and British shippers claimed to have sustained heavy losses. 
There was a more moderate demand the following year, and prices fell off 
a penny a pound, varying for fair to strictly prime from 6 cts. to 6f per pound. 
The exports of 1849-50 were 12,000,000, pounds and contmued to vary 
without important increase for several years. 
In 1860 the exports had reached 23,000,000 pounds, and were increased the 
following year to 40,000,000 pounds. About this time the associated dairy 
system began to attract attention. Several factories were in operation in 
Oneida County, N. Y., and were turning out a superior article of cheese. 
The system had first been inaugurated by Jesse Williams, a farmer living 
near Rome, in that county, and was suggested from mere accidental circum¬ 
stances. Mr. Williams was an experienced and skillful cheese-maker, and at 
a time when the bulk of American cheese was poor. Bis dairy, therefore, 
enjoyed a high reputation and was eagerly sought for by dealers. In the 
spring of 1851, one of his sons having married, entered upon farm'ng on his 
own account, and the father contracted the cheese made upon both farms at 
seven cents a pound, a figure considerably higher than was being offered for 
other dairies in that vicinity. When the contract was made known to the 
son, he expressed great dnubt as to whether he should be able to manufac¬ 
ture the character of cheese that would be accepted under the contract. He 
had never taken charge of the manufacture of cheese while at home, and 
never having given the subject that close attention which it necessarily re¬ 
quired, he felt that his success in coming up to the required standard would 
be a mere matter of chance. His father, therefore, proposed coming daily 
upon the farm and giving the cheese-making a portion of his immediate 
supervision. But this would be very inconvenient, and while devising means 
to meet the difficulties and secure the benefit of the contract, which was 
more than ordinarily good, the idea was suggested that the son should de¬ 
liver the milk from his herd daily at the father’s milk house. From this 
■“thought sprang the idea of uniting the milk from several dairies, and manu- 
acturing it at one place. Buildings were erected and fitted up with 
apparatus, which, proving a success, thus gave birth to the associated system 
of dairying, now widely extended throughout the Northern States. 
This system, during the last eight years, has been carried into the New En- 
