310 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



vented by efficient management. To some extent management 

 can overcome other factors affecting the success of a creamery. 

 Small creameries are seldom able to procure a manager of 

 proven ability because of the high salary which it is necessary 

 to pay him, but the large creameries, including most of the 

 centralizers, employ the very best men it is possible to obtain, 

 some of them paying salaries of $5,000 or more a year. The 

 duties of a creamery manager are exacting. He must, first of 

 all, be a good business man and something of an economist. He 

 must be able to direct the activities of the creamery in all its 

 departments and, while it may not be possible for him to give 

 personal attention to all the details of each department, he must 

 select men who are capable of doing the work under his direc- 

 tion. The quantity and quality of raw material received depends 

 on his ability to win the confidence of the patrons and to satisfy 

 them in their dealings with the creamery. He must market the 

 product in such a way as to get maximum returns. In suc- 

 cessfully marketing the creamery products he must be familiar 

 with market conditions in general and take advantage of every 

 opportunity which arises to extend the sale of his product on 

 a satisfactory basis. He must be far sighted and alert. One 

 of his important duties is to prevent leaks and losses in the 

 operation of the plant. He must, if possible, know the amount 

 of butter fat received each day and what disposition is made of 

 it. If the creamery is paying for more butter fat than is actually 

 received, he must locate the cause and take measures to prevent 

 its recurrence in the future. If the creamery is not getting a 

 proper over-run or if the workmanship of the butter is bad, he 

 must find means of correcting the trouble. He must see to it 

 that records of the business transactions are kept in such a way 

 that they will show at any given time the exact standing of the 

 business. If he fails in any of these branches, the creamery 

 will suffer in consequence. In many of our smaller creameries, 

 and perhaps in some of the larger ones, the leaks which a com- 

 petent manager would prevent result in the failure of the cream- 

 ery to successfully meet competition and often drive it out of 

 business. Investigation has shown that many creameries are 

 careless in weighing and sampling cream, that improper care 

 is taken of the samples, that cream haulers are not properly 

 checked, that the loss of butter fat in skimmed-milk and butter- 



