STATE DAIRY ASSOCIATION. 441 



past year, leaving twenty that we do not know about. Many of these, 

 doubtless, are running. About eighteen or twenty creameries are in three 

 counties— Wayne and surrounding. Of the rest, a large number of them 

 are in Lake and the northern tier of counties. There are four or five 

 right straight south of Terre Haute, and one right in the south central 

 part of the State, making only five creameries in all south of a line across 

 the State through Terre Haute, the rest being mostly in the northern 

 counties, and one or two scattered between Indianapolis and the north 

 line of the State. 



We have, as far as I know, only two exclusive cheese factories— one 

 at Amboy and one at Cambridge City. There are several smaller factories 

 which are buying milk and making buttei- and cheese, or cheese, and ship- 

 ping cream. One of the complaints they make is that the farmers want 

 their skim milk back, and won't take whey, so they can't put all their milk 

 into cheese. Several of our creameries have skimming stations, some of 

 them having as many as five or six, others one or two. The average 

 amount of milk varies from 14,000 pounds per day in one case; in several 

 7,000 per day to as low as l,.30O pounds a day. This is the average 

 amount of milk received. The price paid for butter fat by some fifteen 

 creameries— I have taken an average— for the year ending October 1, 1901, 

 varies from 17i/l- cents to 19% cents. Tliere may be others higher or lower 

 than this. Seventeen and one-half cents is not a particularly high price, 

 but when you understand the conditions that existed at that time it is 

 very good. It is difficult to control the quality of milk, and difficult to 

 get milk that will make butter worth more. Milk producers do not 

 seem to realize that it costs something to manufacture butter, and the more 

 milk they get the cheaper that butter can be made. A trip through sev- 

 eral sections of the State has impressed me with the thought that Indiana 

 ought to produce a good deal more butter. Up around South Bend I 

 found three creameries selling all their butter to local markets, and every 

 one of them said they could sell a great deal more if they had it. There 

 seems to be no trouble about finding a market. I have not heard any- 

 body complaining about prices of butter; the burden of the complaint is 

 to get' milk enough. I hope that Indiana will increase her dairy inter- 

 ests very materially. The southern end of the State is particularly suited 

 to it. They have land there they can't use to so good an advantage for 

 anything else, and when they realize at what profit dairying can be carried 

 on, it seems to me more farmers will make it a part of their work. 



