The Dairy.
Dairymen, Write for Your Paper.
The Wisconsin Dairymen.
The papers and discussions at Lake Mills comprehended quite a range of topics, and they were handled with marked ability. Three of the essays have now appeared in The Prairie Farmer in full. They were too good to slaughter by abridgment, and the same remark applies to other papers, yet our space is too limited for an unabridged report.
THE ROAD TO THE FACTORY,
by Robt. Fargo, showed the people how much they are losing by persisting in having poor roads, when by a small expense they might have good ones. The road tax is improperly applied. He thought that a good gravel road in most localities could be made for $1,000 per mile, the road-bed to be graveled one foot deep and twelve feet wide.
CANADA VS. WISCONSIN.
Mr. Harris’ paper, printed in last week’s Farmer, elicited considerable discussion. Members desired to know if, in the essayist’s opinion, Canadian dairy management was superior to that of the States, and especially of Wisconsin. The reply was in the affirmative. There seems to be more thoroughness on the part of Canadian dairymen. They have no better grass, nor water, nor cows. They discriminate more rigidly between good and bad patrons. They sometimes bring the law to bear against those who water milk or skim it. The factories there are mostly owned by stock companies. When tainted milk is discovered in the vat, it is traced back as soon as possible to its source, and the patron bringing it is excluded. The law there is similar to that in New York and was founded upon that law. Mr. Fish related an instance where a fraudulent patron in Herkimer county, N. Y., had been detected, sued, and heavily fined for his practices. Mr. Harris said as inspector of factories, he always refused to receive milk from cows allowed to feed on slough grass or drink stagnant water. Such milk would always prevent the manufacture of good cheese. He wants no milk from cows forced to feed on marshes. When a man applies to a factory to sell his milk, he looks the man over, he visits his farm, he looks at the stables and all the surroundings, and he can generally tell whether or not it is safe to receive that man’s milk.