Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-03-22

The history of association dairying" is
simple. Among the early cheese makers of
Herkimer and Oneida there were some who
soon acquired a skill which gave their prod
uce q better reputation than that of their
neighbors, and who introduced improvements
in the appliances used which economical both
time and material One of these was Jesse
Williams, farmer of Rome, whose cheese
brought unusually high prices. A picture of
Mr.. Williams, that is now before the writer,
shows in a smooth-shaved face the qualities
of an ideal American husbandman-intelli-
gence, resolution, perseverance, and vigor.
Wherever his cheese was offered for sale it
was eagerly bought, and, had his dairy been
capable of producing twice rs much more, a
market would not have been wanting. In the
spring of 1851 n son of his was married, and
removed from the old homestead to a new
farm. The father made contracts by which
the products of the sons dairy were to be
sold on the same terms as his own, and guar
anteed to be of the same quality The son,
however, could not make as good cheese as
the father, and the latter found it necessary
to go each day to his sons place and instruct
him, an arrangement which consumed great
deal of time-more than Mr. Williams could
afford. In the emergency n good idea oc-
Cured to him-not startling or particularly
brilliant idea, but one that, when the world
in its relations with labor is little better adj
justed may be applied with advantage to
many other occupations than cheese making.
In the future we may hope that the house
wives of a city street or village will discov-
er that it is both cheaper and more conve-
nient to have all their washing done ut the
same time and place, and in a building sup
piled with proper machinery, than it is to
have separate operations, with all the petty
b1,t frO,,h1au thof x-ocl 10
tails in the private domestic circle. Some day
the advantages of practical cooperation in
nearly all things will be understood and APP
preciated. 1t was i'll cooperation that Jesse
Williams saw the solution of his difficulty
He took the milk from his sons farm and
made it into cheese at his own place, produc-
ing an article that met with general common
dation; then he purchased new and larger
machinery, and after while neighboring far
mers were invited to send their milk in for
manufacture, which they readily did, paying
Williams percentage for his trouble. The
original factory became the model of many
others, and out of the small beginnings in
the old homestead at Rome what is known as
the association system" developed, which
now includes about five hundred establish
ments, representing II capital of millions of
dollars, using the milk of some one hundred
and thirty thousand COWS, and making about
thirty three million pounds of cheese annual
ly. The advantages of the system to the far
mer are obvious-superiority and uniformity
of quality, the saving in cost by the whole
sale purchase of materials, and the avoidance
of care Instead of having to buy expensive
apparatus and to devote the constant atten-
ton necessary in private operations, the far
mer by the new system sends his milk, morn
ing and evening, to the factor who not only
manufactures it into cheese, but also SELL
the cheese when it is made, charging one dol
lar and fifty cents per one hundred pound
for the work The factor, as matter of self
interest, sees that everything is well done
He knows that mistakes will not be tolerated
by his customers, and he has all convenience
at hand, such as the individual farmer might
not be able to afford. The whole quantity Of
cheese made from six hundred or a Thousand
COWS can be sold in the same time and with
out any more bother than that made from
twenty cows; and as the same processes are
inevitable, whether the quantity of milk il
large or small, il takes almost as much labo
to manufacture the milk of dairy with
hundred cows as it does to manufacture tina
of a thousand cows. In brief, the ''associa
ton system" secures all the peculiar benefit
which belong to cooperation, and it has beei
successfully initiated in several countrie
abroad under the experienced direction o
American dairymen. -AppIetOn's JOuradI TO
thrill