190 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Galbraith: 1 do not think this part of our progiamme should 

 be passed by without notice. This is certainly a valuable paper 

 coming from Mr. Sharpless who is interested in the sale and manu- 

 facture of separators, and I would like to know the opinion of the 

 dairymen as to whether this Moody Separator is practicable in Penn- 

 sylvania in herds of eight or ten cows. 



Professor Hills: I see no reason whj' the separator is not prac- 

 ticable in a small dairy. The different makes of separators are made 

 in all sizes and the prices are correspondingly small. It seems to me, 

 therefore, entirely feasible to use the separator in a dairy as small as 

 five cows. 1 have urged all through the State that no dairyman can 

 afford to do without a separator if he has as many as five cows. 



Mr. Dechert: The principal argument brought out is the saving of 

 time and labor to the farmer which of itself is a profit. Statistics 

 show ten cents per hundred pounds for these items of expense. On 

 u basis of four pounds of butter to each 100 pounds of milk, the cost 

 of two and one-half cents per pound is a valuable item, but one which 

 seems to be lost sight of. Not only is the expense of hauling saved, 

 but by having a separator on the place the cream can be separated 

 in the time required to hitch up the horse for hauling. Another 

 advantage is in having skimmed milk for feeding with more nourish- 

 ment than when brought back from the creamery. This as the in- 

 creased value of the stock is an item not to be overlooked. The farm 

 separator has an advantage also in that all kinds of cream are not 

 mixed as when cream w^as separated by the gravity system. The 

 chances for good butter are therefore increased. I predict that with- 

 in the next ten years the farm separator will supplant the present 

 factory system. 



Mr. Jacob Harts: I would like to ask why the Moody Separator 

 Company will assume the expense of keeping the separators in order 

 and hauling the cream to the creamery. 



Mr. Dechert: It has been demonstrated that a man can be sent 

 out to gather the cream at two-thirds the expense of handling the 

 milk after it is brought to the factory. 



Mr. John I. Carter: I think the trend of advance is not in the line 

 of individual manufacture. How would it do if the individual farmer 

 would undertake to kill his own beaves or manufacture his own grain 

 into flour. In the nature of things, and to secure profitable results, 

 the manufacture of butter for the consumers of this country cannot 

 be done by the individual farmers. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



Secretary Hayward read a communication from the Department of 

 Public Instruction at Harrisburg stating that in accordance with 

 the authority vested in their executive committee bv the convention 



