The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1875-10-13

No where are richer lands and bet
ter improved farms 10 be found than
in this State. The thrift of the Penn
~sylvania farmer has become proven
bal, known aud praised throughout
the country. These fairs attest the
enterprise Of the tillers of the soil
and surely no better means for en-
courageing excellence, the proper aim
Of every good hu~sbandman. could be
devised. The competition here x
cited cannot but stimulate all exhibit
tors and visitors, whatever may be
their speciality, to strive even harder
in the future to do their work well.
Progress is the crest watchword
Of the age, and excellence Is required
in every department of production.
If we are mechanics we must n
deavor to originate some new princi-
pie or improve an old device, if pro-
fessional men we should be thorough
masters Of our vocation, if farmers
We should raise FIRST class wheat,
corn, oats. butter, poultry and every
thing we cultivate. This the world
requires of US and our success de-
ponds upon our ability to respond. If
our wheat is of inferior quality it
viii not sell to advantage. If we
make poor butter we must take a
much less price than our neighbor
who makes good, and so throughout
the entire list; if we therefore fail to
produce q prime article we suffer
loss, while if we succeed and our
success depends mainly upon our
own efforts we obtain q much better
price.
This demand for first class goods
becomes stronger and stronger each
year. The public taste becomes finer
each decade, and if we would sue
coed we must ft ourselves to crafty
its demands.
The moving machine and reaper
has taken the place of the scythe and
cradle, the railroad supersedes the
stage coach, steel rails drive out of
use the iron ones, and thus through
out the vast field of human industry
is this law Of Improvement exempli-
fed. No less strongly is this princi-
pie carried out in our private econ
omy. The masses require better
food aow than in years gone by, and
we require better clothing, better
houses, and better furniture than did
the people Of fifty years ago. Not
that we are more proud | think our
grand parents enjoyed good clothes
and good living as much as we do,
but because out taste is better edlti-
waited than theirs was do we require
finer quality. | believe the world is
advancing, aud Notwithstanding the
crime and vice of the age, the pro-
portions are in favor Of the present.
It is, therefore, our duty 10
strive for eXcellency in every thing
that we undertake, and the liberal
premiums here offered should en-
courage each one to exert his best
efforts in whatever enterprise be may
be engaged.
In passing TO the main subject of
my address | beg to say that / am
not a practical dairyman, though in
days gone by / have taken my turn
at the old dash churn more than
once and enjoyed the fresh buttermilk
given as a reward for the long hours
Of inpatient churning.
Dairying has already been prac-
ticed to a large extent in this State.
The counties of Chester and Della
ware, adjacent to Philadelphia, sup
ply large amounts Of very fine butter
to that city. Bradford County, on
the north, is peculiarly a butter dis
trict, and produces as good an article
as is made in the world. Susque-
hanna and Tioga, adjoining, produce
large amounts. On the northwest
Crawford and Erie counties, within a
few years, have been developed into
important cheese districts. Mercer,
McKesn, and Yenango are also Civ
ing attention to the industry. The
cheese produced in these counties
averages very high in quality. There
are now some 6S factories ia Craw-
ford County that are estimated to
have produced over 5000, 600 pounds
of cheese last year, % factories in
Erie made 1000, 900 pounds, ii fac
tories in Venango and Mercer pro-
1900, 900 pounds more, making a to-
tai of l0l factories and a production
of $500, 000 pounds of cheese, worth
not less than 81, 000, 600. The north
western part of Pennsylvania is very
superior for dairy purposes. The
surface is neither billy nor level, but
gently rolling, and | think the land
scape views as beautiful as any /
ever saw. 1t abounds in numerous
and n~eger-failing springs, and is well
covered over with nutritious grasses.
You are doubtless aware that dali
rying is the leading industry of many
counties in the States of New York,
Ohio, and Michigan. Cheese facto-
ries and creameries are located with
in every few miles in many parts of
the two former States, and let me
here remark that no other class of
farmers are as prosperous as the dali
rymen. The business has been the
most profitable of almost any branch
of farm husbandry. The dairyman
not only resps a good profit upon his
labor and capital. but his land be-
comes richer each gear instead of
poorer. This season the cheese in-
terest has been greatly depressed, and
dairymen have been much discour-
aged, but The unfavorable condition
of the business is owing entirely to
an overreaching plan on the part of a
few, who, for large prospective gains,
began skimming their milk and adul-
terating their cheese, thereby stock
ing the markets with inferior quail
ties, and as a consequence greatly
curtailing the demand. An import
ant lesson has been learned, and |
believe iG the future more ine and
less common cheese will be made.
The production Of cheese and but
ter has also extended into Northern
Illinois and Southern Wisconsin.
The finest qualities are now produced
10 these localities, though it was
thought impossible at first owing to
the fatness Of the country and scar
city of running streams. They Sc.