BUTTER. 



201 



Opposed to these objections numerous advantages can be pre- 

 sented. A partial list on!}' is given and these so plain as to need no 

 explanation. The advantages of the factory system are : 



1 . Economy of manufacture in great quantities, in lal)or and tools. 



2. Tendenc}- of system to raise the average quality. In many 

 cases the butter and cheese produced by this method equal the best 

 ever made before in the same section from the same cows, and at 

 times surpasses it. 



3. Econom}- of marketing large quantities. 



4. Last, but not least, is the great relief of having the milk or 

 cream taken off the farm, saving all further labor and care. And 

 this relief comes, as a rule, to that part of the working force of the 

 farm which needs it most, the farmer's wife and daughters. Often 

 this dairy duty is just so much in addition to the ordinary domestic 

 cares which are, of themselves, a sufficient burden. 



Let me not be understood, however, as believing in an entire 

 substitution of the new system for the old. Associated dairying 

 originated in cheese making districts, and in its earlier forms is 

 better adapted to that branch of the industry than to butter making. 

 The butter factory, pure and simple, followed the cheese factory, 

 and derived from both — at first a combination of the two — we have 

 the establishments known b}' the general name of creameries. 



Creameries, or butter factories, differ much in their systems and 

 management, and in viewing the question of introducing coopera- 

 tive dairying in any given locality, the kind of creamery adapted to 

 its wants will depend upon various conditions. The main point 

 will be, whether the whole milk or only the cre9,m shall be taken to 

 the factory. Taking the whole milk off the farm is in the long run, 

 selling the farm itself by the gallon or by the pound, and can only 

 be afforded when the receipts for the milk are so good as to enable 

 a return to the laud by the purchase of food for the stock, or of 

 fertilizers. As a rule, selling the whole milk should not be advo- 

 cated, and the butter factory in its original form is objectionable 

 on that account. Butter alone, however, or pure cream contains 

 no nitrogen and no mineral matter of consequence, and may be 

 perpetually produced and sold without perceptibly affecting the 

 fertility of the farm, provided the skimmed milk be used at home 

 and in the best way. It seems to me quite evident that the factory 

 system best adapted to a specially butter making section, where 

 there is very little sale for milk at remuRcrative rates, is that which 



