Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1905-11-30
IaAl!!R!2'Y1
lErOl' Is
Dairy Associations.

bay associations have been OF i'm
mense ielp to the country. They have
more thai anything else stimulated
the productitE of milk and butter, and
have secured tav the producer of these
articles lower TR<es on the railroads
than could have been obtained in any
other way. ConsideIaG the smaD size
OF these associations tSs work accom-
plished has been remarkable. Very
few OF the state dairy associations
have more than two or three Kindred
actual members; in some cases the
actual members do not exceed ol:a
hundred. There are great many
members that pay their yearly fee for
the mere sake of having their names
on the membership roll. In numerous
cases these are agents of dairy supply
houses, butter colors and other com
mercial interests connected more or
less remotely with dairying The
small number Of members have, how
ever, the support Of the farming popu.
lation. They are looked upon as some
thing of parliament where great
policies are discussed and adopted
When the representatives Of these as.
sociatlons come before the state legis-
lature, the members of the legislature
realize that these men stand for many
thousands of dairymen in their states
Were this not so, the National Dairy
Union, an association composed of but
handful of men, could never have
forced the oleomargarine laws through
Congress. The Wisconsin Dairymen's
Association, about thirty years ago,
tooENup the matter of railroad rates.
They sent one of their leading officers
to Chicago, and he spent days in con-
ferring with the men of the railroads
passing through Wisconsin. He OBJ.
tanned rate which, for lowness, was
unheard-of in those days. He also OBJ.
tanned the use of refrigerator cars for
shipping Wisconsin butter and cheese
to Chicago, New York and other east.
ern points The results were imme-
diately felt in Wisconsin and through.
out the entire West 1t was the Iii.
nois Dairymen's association that really
created the existing state pure food
commission. 1t fought for years to
get the bill that created the commits.
sion through the legislature. The good
work accomplished will go on from
year to year and from generation to
generation. Yet in spite of the great
work that was done, no convention Of
Illinois dairymen exceeds a hundred
or SO of actual members. | think the
farmers everywhere should encourage
the formation of dairy associations.
also believe they should lose no oppor.
tunity in attending the meetings of
dairy associations. 1t has been a mat.
ter OF remark that the farmers living
near the meeting places In many cases
seem to ignore entirely the existence
of the associations and the holding of
conventions, even when these CONVEX
tons have been held in localities noted
for their dairying industry. Sometimes
the audience has been composed of
people from beyond the boundaries of
the county, with but sprinkling Of
the local farmers. The farmer that
has the opportunity to attend a dairy
convention almost without expense to
himself can afford to sacrifice two or
three days of the time on his farm for
the sake of being present at the meet
ingS. The amount of information
that he will obtain will be worth vast
ly more to him than the amount of
work that he can do in the same time.
John Stinson, Bureau Co., H., in
Farmers Review.