Wisconsin has always been a "fair" state.


more money could be had from selling the whole prod-
uce to the factories for cheese; while in the mixed
farming country where hogs were kept in large num-
bers, in fact exceeded cattle by 40 percent, it was
more profitable to make butter and sell the skimmed
milk to the farmers for the hogs. So the cheese fac-
tories were in the hilly Dane dairy towns of Blue
Mounds, Vermont, Perry, and Primrose, and the but-
ter factories were in the mixed farming towns of
Springfield, Bristol, Fitchburg, and Rutland.
    Organization of a state Dairymen's Association
was accomplished in 1872:
    "In compliance with the call issued a few weeks
since, for a 'Dairymen's Convention,' a number of
the most prominent dairymen of the state met at the
Linden House in Watertown, on Thursday, February
15th. The attendance was good, and the importance
of the movement will be rightly estimated, when it is
understood that those present represented the manu-
facture of nearly 3,000,000 pounds of Cheese, the
past season."
    William Dempster Hoard, Chester Hazen, Hiram
Smith, W. H. Morrison, and Stephen Faville were
key figures in the Dairymen's Association as well as
in the development of dairying in Wisconsin.
    Hoard believed that a cow should be bred for
one purpose only: the production of milk. He was op-
posed by many farmers who desired an all-purpose
cow, combining both milking potential and beef.
There was little known about genetics, and there was
no accurate test for butterfat in milk.
    After learning to farm in New York State,
Hoard started in Wisconsin by raising hops and lost
everything he had. It took him twenty years to pay
his debts. Then, at Fort Atkinson, he founded


Hoard's Dairyman in 1870, a four-page farm paper
that gained wide circulation in America. Hoard
stressed the value of dairying and urged farmers to
"substitute the cow for the plow." He advocated the
development of dairy breeds solely for milk produc-
tion. He also preached the use of the silo and urged
farmers to cooperate with the new Wisconsin Col-
lege of Agriculture.
     Hoard was widely sought after as a speaker and
humorist. One of his famous stories was about the
deacon and the calf. Farmers who had had experi-
ence feeding young calves howled when Hoard told
this story:
     "About Calves - Mr. Thom has spoken about
calves. From my earliest infancy down to today (I
am not paying much attention to calves now) I was
brought up along with bovine babies. I have had a
deep interest in the little animal called the calf, and,
as a consequence, at an early age I made something
of a study of the animal. Calves are very much alike,
whether they come from one breed or another. As a
rule, those who have had experience in dealing with
them discover that a thoroughbred calf is the most
intelligent. There is a long line of heredity in its
behalf but the most provoking thing on this green
earth at times is a calf. He will stand and regard you
with a look of mild and innocent baby-like wonder,
and a stupidity that is unfathomable.
     "The Deacon and the Calf-I am reminded of an
incident in the history of good old deacon Coolidge,
a neighbor of mine, and I tell you this story now for
the purpose of explaining somewhat, it may be, cer-
tain derelictions or deviations from the strict ortho-
dox pathway that men may be pardoned for indulg-
ing in who have the handling of calves. Deacon
Coolidge was one of the best men I ever knew, with
a heart overflowing with love to his fellow-man, to
his Maker, and to all things that his Maker had
made. He was a thrifty farmer, and his wife was
like him. Aunty Coolidge was one of the best women
who ever lived. Sunday morning came. The old man
had just hitched up the old mare and started for
church, three miles distant. He had driven into the
road and turned back to shut the gate when the old
lady said, 'Pa, I declare for it, that calf hasn't been
fed, and the milk is in the brass kettle on the stove,
all warm for him.' 'Well,' the old man replied, 'well,
well; this is a pretty time to think of feeding the
calf, I declare, with my best clothes on. Maria,' he
said, 'what are you thinking of, not to speak of it
before?' 'Well, pa, you know that we claim to be
Christians, and if we should go off to church all day
long and leave that poor calf without anything to
eat, we couldn't pray enough nor sing enough to


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