Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1875-10-26
NO. 254.
ASSOCIATED DAIRYING.

While the system of individual dairying
was at its height there was, by chance, a
convenient arrangement invented in Onei.
da County which in due time revolution
lied the system of cheese manufacture, and
has given the history of agriculture that
method which is known as ''the American
system of associated dairying." As in the
case OF many an important innovation up-
on established customs, the inventor
builded more wisely than he knew. jesse
Williams owned, in 1851, . private estab-
lishment for cheese-making near Rome, in
Oneida County, New York. He had
achieved reputation as manufacturer
of the best quality of cheese. To him. as
to many others, this reputation was a di.
rect money value upon the market. He
could make contract for better price
than others. and the demand for his cheese
was greater than the supply. In the spring
of 1851 one of Jesse Williams's sons was
married. and went to live upon dairy
farm near his fathers. The cheese from
this farm Mr.. Williams contracted at the
same price as his own, but there was
necessity that it should be Of the same
quality. This was the quandary; how
can the cheese be alike when the father is
a skilled manufacturer and the son is not
This was the question which Mr.. Williams
had to answer. 1t first occurred to him
that he could 60 each day to his sons
dairy-house and try to impart to his son
his own skill in manipulation. But this
involved great deal Of trouble and Mr.
Williams's second thought was the prin.
ciple of associated dairying, which will
make his name endure. 1t was a happy
thought-happy in its exceeding simple
ity and in its fitness for universal applica-
ton, as events have proved. Mr.. Williams
could not 60 to the milk; the milk must
be brought to him. The success which he
attained in his venture was the keynote
of the success which has been gained by
the wide application of his method. Skill
can not act in many places at the same
time, but skill is powerful over masses OF
material; one large establishment occa-
sions less labor and expense than dozen
small ones, each doing one-twelfth of its
work; all supplies are cheaper at whole
sale. These are some OF the advantages
which have led to the wide adoption Of
the American factory system. They were
not perceived at once. For three years
Mr. Williams and those who brought milk
to him profited by them. During the
next five years only three or four estab-
lishments were erected each year. Since
that time the growth has been rapid. In
the year 1866 there were more than 500
factories in operation in New York State.
The appreciation Of the advantages Of the
factory system gave at length. marvel
GUS impulse to the dairy industry. Cheese
making, which was once monopolized by
the rich counties OF Central New York, is
now a flourishng specially in half a
dozen regions of the State. 1t has pushed
westward, shaping the productive ability
of the Western Reserve. finding favoring
conditions tor growth in Illinois, Wiscon-
sin, Michigan, and Iowa, and gathering
groups of dairies in almost every other
Western State. 1t is just now spreading
anew in Pennsylvania. To the eastward,
Massachusetts and Vermont have given it
heartiest welcome, and Maine, youngest
of the dairy regions. promises t0 exert an
influence upon the supply.-Edward J,
Wickson. in Harper's Magazine for No
remJer.