DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. 305 



SUCCESSFUL CREAMERY OPERATION. 



By S. C. Thompson^ U. S. Department of Agriculture, 



Washington, D. C. 



The subject which I have chosen for this occasion may give 

 the impression that I do not consider the creameries of Maine 

 successfully operated. On the contrary, I am sure that there 

 are ^ew, if any, states where the creamery as a whole is so 

 successful as in Maine. However, conditions are constantly 

 changing and it is necessary to introduce new methods from 

 time to time in order to successfully meet the changing condi- 

 tions. In discussing this subject I hope to enumerate some of 

 the principles of creamery operation which are often not given 

 sufficient consideration by creamery operators and result in the 

 creamery failing to meet with the success which is its due. It is 

 also true that different localities have different conditions to 

 meet. This makes it necessary for each community to formu- 

 late in detail its own methods of operation. At the same time 

 the general principles involved apply in practically all cases. At 

 the present time there are more than 6000 creameries in opera- 

 tion in the United States. Some of them are exceptionally 

 successful, while others are having a hard struggle to exist. Of 

 this number more than one-third are located in the states of 

 Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, and practically all of them are 

 located in the states north of the Mason-Dixon Line. 



CLASSIFICATION OF CREAMERIES. 



These creameries may be classified according to the kind of 

 product handled, into two classes ; one handling whole milk, the 

 other handling gathered cream. The introduction and general 

 adoption of the hand separators have resulted in decreasing 



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