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26      WISCONSIN                 ASSOCIATION.
sent in, from those reports the average all over this state was
from 255 to 260, so Mr. Michels is pretty nearly right. That
was the average for three years.
THE BENEFITS OF MUTIUAL CO-OPERATION
OF CHEESE FACTORIES IN A
GIVEN TERRITORY.
William Waterstreet, Chicago, Ill.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I feel that the subject of Cooperation of Factories which
has been assigned me by your worthy secretary is a difficult
subject for me to do justice to, as the cooperation of factories
in Wisconsin is practically only in its infancy. But its many
advantages are being perceived more and more, and cannot be
too much emphasized at the present time.
By the term co-operation I do not mean that I would advo-
cate a trust, or the pooling of the product of factories for pe-
cuniary gain. The primary object of co-operating in ths in-
dustry is to improve the quality of the output by having the
manufacture placed under one head, and thereby reaping ben-
efits which they could not obtain by groping along in the darc
alone.
Any one can readily perceive the disadvantages that a fac-
tory labors under while working under the old independent
system, and it is under this system that nearly all factories in
this state have been working until quite recently. One great
drawback to the cheese industry in this state, and in other
states as well, has been the widespread difference in the qual-
ity of cheese manufactured in the different factories.
In order to obtain the best prices for the goods they should
not only be of the right color, flavor and texture, but should be
put up in nest packages of uniform size and weight. In my
estimation too little attention is paid to this point by nearly