164 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE;. 



HOW CAN THE CREAMERY PATRON IMPROVE HIS 



PRODUCT? 



By W. K. HamIvIN, South Waterford. 



I do not feel competent to speak upon this subject, but I will 

 undertake to do so very briefly, first, because I realize that our 

 worthy Secretary has very much to contend with in arranging- 

 for and working up this meeting, and I desire to go on record 

 as being willing to do what I can to aid him in his efiforts ; and 

 second, because it is said to be better to try and fail than never 

 to try at all. Last of all, the subject, "How can the creamery 

 patron improve his product ?" seems to be so easy of solution that 

 any one might answer it without much difficulty. In this con- 

 nection the products of the creamery patron will be treated as 

 meaning milk or cream, and every creamery in the State is 

 deeply concerned in the problem of how to make them better, 

 and has made rules and given instructions to its patrons until 

 it would seem that nothing further in this direction should b« 

 necessary. Still, the creameries are receiving cream of an infe- 

 rior quality. What is the reason for this state of affairs? It 

 would certainly seem that if poor cream is still produced it must 

 be because the patron lacks interest in his business and is not 

 doing as well as he knows how to do. What is the greatest diffi- 

 culty in the way of getting cream of the best quality at our 

 creameries? Is it want of good cows, comfortable stables or 

 suitable appliances for doing the work and caring for the cream ? 

 Not necessarily. Can it be due to lack of knowledge on the part 

 of the patrons of how to feed their cows in order to get the 

 best results; a knowledge of the necessity of thorough ventila- 

 tion and of keeping everything about the stables and dairy clean 

 and sweet ? To the person of an inquiring mind these problems 

 are not so very difficult of solution. Countless bulletins on just 

 such subjects are constantly being published by our experiment 

 stations and may be had for the asking. We have also our State 

 Dairy Instructor, our State Dairy Conference, our farmers' insti- 

 tutes and the dairy journals, all of which are valuable sources of 

 information in all these lines. What, then, do we lack, in order 

 to_ attain the desired condition ? We feel sure that we have found 

 the great source of nearly all causes for inferior milk and cream 



