Year: 1878

IFS OLD TINE ORGANIZATION AND GREAT De
vELopMENT II LATTER YEARs--opENING OF
THE INTERNATIONAL FAIR.


In the good old times. about which everybody is SO
fond of talking but to which no would return
for any inducement that could be offered the Ameri
can dairy very modest institution. Every
farmer owned long iank cow which picked up pre-
carions living in places where the fastidous bovine
hope OF the modern airyman would starve and which
yielded daily certain amount OF huid, of which the
basis seemed either chalk indigo, the colors OF
these two pigments being about equally indicated in
the contents of the family milk pail. In
those days every family that required butter
found it necessary to keep q churn and to
agitate the dashcr thereof once or twice
a week, at an expense Of muscle and patience which
was utterly out Of proportion to the quantity and
quality Of butter produced. In those days the
N"points" of consisted of four legs one body
udler devoid of physical dcformitics. n head and
two horns. though the latter not always insisted
upon being necessary to IA sufficient flow Of milk.
Then the householder who did not q COW hut
required butter had always to make anxious tonr
OF the nearest country stores TO sample the surplus
products Of neighboring farms. Happy she II
she could find amy ut which her palate did not rebel
while in the winter months she was lucky II she
found on sale butter of any kind. As for milk.
frequent unsuccessful struggles against the inevitable
taught every sensible householder to adopt the quart
measure as the sole standard by which the lacteal
fluid was to be estimated.


HAPPY DAYS OF THE oLDEN TIME.


Since those days delightful to the romantic eye
and cxaspcratn9 to those who were compelled TO
live in then there has been spirit of improvement
abroad and the dairy has not escaped the effects OF IT,
After many doggcd refusal any necessity for
change the American farmer was finally taught that
to obtain good milk 1t necessary that should
b. better fed than if they were the mere ramps and
hn..u
dent that tendency to bone and tendency to plenty
OF rich milk were nos consistent with each other 50
the stock Of mich cows gradually improved by
an infusion OF rich foreign blood. Then IL
Cured to the shrewd American mind that but
ter which cost in home labor fifty cents
or more per pound and cheese made at home
several times the market price Of better article
could with profit be replaced by the purchase OF sim
liar articles made by persons who de9oted their
tire attention them So dairy farms replaced
the family dairy, creameries' succeeded TO supply
finer butter and cheese than the careful home
effort could produce. and the work of improving the
grade Of farm cattle so persstcntly engaged in
that whenever during the past few the stock Of
offered for sale the bidders have been drawn not only
from all portions Of the Union. but al-o from the
English and other foreign localities from which the
original stock was imported.


IMPORTANCE THE INDUSTRY.


To give some idea OF the commercial Importance of
the American dairy we append a few figures. Tic
yearly production OF butter exceeds 50O,00O.OO0
pounds which at the lowest average price possible
would represent more than S5O0O0,OO0. The yearly
production OF cheese reaches nearly 2OO,0O0.OOO
pounds about two-thirds OF which is made in fac
tories devoted to this special purpose and paying
$75OU0O per year for labor alone the capital in
vested in the factories exceeding S4OOOOO. The guam
tity of milk sod in year exceeds 250000O0 gallons
and as the proportion OF this--about one -halt-sod
in New York contains large percentage Of water the
money equivalent Is enormous The number of
mich cows in the United States Is nearly 1O,O0O.O0D
The demand Of American dairy products for export
alone reached about $1O,0o0OUO, which is not
cceded by the highest estimate placed the value
OF our sea fisheries. although for the small proper
ton Of those which pursued in Canadian waters
the United States about to at the rate Of nearly
half q million dollars year.


FAIR.


These facts give considerable interest to the pro-
cee,lngs OF the American Dairy ymen's Association,
which conyenes the I'd prox. This society pro-
posed not only to display and compare dairy prod
ucts but to exhibit cattle and many of the mcchani
cal conrivances used in the preservation of milk
cminently proper that this first exhibition should
take place in New York. for this State not only ranks
first III importance i'll point Of dairy interests,
but yields about quarter OF all the butter and two
thirds of all the cheese made in the Union. 1t also
contains by far the greater quantity Of bloodcd
those with large grazing facilities, will be largely
represented, and il is confidently believed that
general Interchange of views will lead to con-
siderable increase in the business of dairy farming
well as to an improvement Of the average quality
of dairy products.


The Iair will open in the American Institute build
ing Monday next II decided yesterday that
Mr.. Franklin Edison, President of the Produce TX
change will preside at the opening. The States of
New York. Pennsylvania, Ohio. Illinois, Wisconsin.
the fair and there will also be exhibits OF cheese
and butter from abroad The stands Tor the use OF
exhibitors almost erected and any country dele
gates have already arrived in the city.