Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1884-02-29
ssThe Progress of Dairying in
Wisconsin.

Dairyingn was the subject of
discussion at the meeting of the
Farmers club of the town of Min
eral Point, held at the house of
Edward Dunn on Wednesday after
noon, the 9th inst As this is a
subject in which every farmer is in
terested, we give below synopsis
of a paper upon "The Progress of
Dairying in Wisconsin," which was
read by D. w. Curtis, of Fort At
kinson this state, before the North
western Dairymen's Association,
at Mankato, Minnesota.
"The progress of dairying in Wis
consin has been in measure large
| " due to few persistent workers
who have had as a single object the
advancement of its dairy interests.
The Wisconsin Dairy association
was formed in 1872 and its record
shows vast amount of information
disseminated and progress made
since that day. The state is pecu-
liarly adapted to dairying, abound
ing in tame grasses, good pasturage,
pure spring water, and blessed with
favorable climate for making but
ter and cheese in all seasons Of the
year. Yet less than a quarter of
century ago the popular verdict was
that neither good butter nor cheese
could be made in the west. 1t has
always been a matter of pride with
our association to make an exhibit
of products whenever opportunity
offered. The association held the
first dairy fair ever held in the
United States in 1875 under the
auspices of the State Agricultural
society. 1t brought manufacturer
and dealer together, and the defects
Of one and the wants of the other
were made known. One incident
connected with this fair shows the
value of every man making an ex-
hibit of his product. A factory
man in the northern part Of the
state, who had been making cheese
for two years, selling them around
home, shipping them whenever he
could find a customer, sent three
cheeses to the fair, just to see how
they would compare with cheese
made in other parts of the state.
They won the sweepstakes, and i'm
mediately a half-dozen kilograms
were sent from as many buyers,
wanting to buy all he had and could
make during the season. Our next
exhibit was at the Centennial exhi-
bition. Wisconsin cheese won
twenty first premiums, New York
winning but twenty-one. On butter,
Wisconsin won five first premiums,
no state being awarded any more.
The exhibition was of more value
to the state than any previous one,
as it gave our dairy friends name
and quotation in the market. Pre-
vious to this there had been serious
objections made to quoting Wiseon-
sin butter and cheese as Western, "
but as western butter and cheese was
quoted a cent or two above the regu-
lar market quotations the term did
not seem objectional. At the interna-
tionai dairy fair you may possibly
remember that a Wisconsin girl,
Miss Fannie Morley, won the sweep
stakes, in competition with the
world, for the best made butter at
any time or place. r. F. Nc
Cutcheon, of Jefferson county won
the second sweepstakes on cheese,
against the world, the first going to
Canada. At the Grand Union
Dairy Fair in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
won first and second sweepstakes
on cheese and second on butter.
These premiums have all been won
by careful painstaking dairymen,
who have been trying each year to
improve their make of butter and
cheese, and in doing this have
grown independent. The old log
houses and barns have given way to
comfortable farm houses and COM
modious barns. The farms are in a
high state of cultivation, and their
bank account bespeaks prosperity
in every home. Sheboygan county,
with her ninety cheese factories,
sold in 1883 nearly s2,O00,000 worth
of cheeses; Jefferson county nearly
million and half of butter and
cheese, Green and Dodge counties
make swiss and limberger cheese
enough for every German in the land.
The progress of dairying is well
illustrated in the case of prom
inent dairyman in our state, who
ten years ago kept forty COWS on his
200 acre farm. His hay and grain
were constantly falling short, and
he had to buy to help out the
year. His gross receipts at this time
were about 81, 800 a year. He was
considered a good dairyman, and
doing much better than many
others. At the present time with
the same 200 acre farm he is winter
ing sixty-three COWS to eat up bis
hay, for he never sells any. This
season his dairy contained fifty
seven cows, and his net receipts
after paying all expenses, for he
hires everything done, was over
81, 9O0-S300 more than all the
money he received ten years ago,
His COWS are the same class of COWS
but his knowledge of caring for, and
feeding, knowing just what kinds OF
grain to feed with the different
kinds of hay, in short an intelligent
pursuit of the dairy business bas
brought about this result.