Vermont Dairymen's Association. 73 



one would not think there was any poor butter made in the 

 State. But I was reading only a few days ago in the Dairy 

 Journal the rules for making Convention butter; and I find these 

 rules are not the ones used in making everyday creamery butter. 

 Only five per cent of the large amount of butter that goes to^ New 

 York grades as extras. If you follow the Boston Chamber of 

 Commerce circular, you will find that every week there is a large 

 proportion of off butter, and' many weeks a very great propor- 

 tion. This means an enormous loss to the farmers of this coun- 

 try, as well as to the consumer for if he cannot get a first class 

 article of butter, he will often take an imitation at a less price. 



My experience with the creamery business dates back about 

 eight years. Until within a year or two, we took nothing but 

 milk. This was seldom more than eighteen hours old, was 

 skimmed at the creamery to the desired thickness, and made into 

 butter the next day. During the six years we had hardly a half 

 a dozen complaints about our butter ; not but what it might have 

 been off some days, but not sufficiently so to cause complaint. 

 But a great change has taken place. The farmer has tired of 

 carrying his milk from half a mile to five or six miles. He finds 

 that there is a great drain, a great expense in keeping up his 

 teams, that wear and tear is excessive, and also, if he is any 

 like myself, that after he has spent a half day going to the 

 creamery, he is good for little else the rest of the day. So the 

 hand separator has been introduced. Now we are taking in 

 cream of all ages from one to five days old, of all thicknesses 

 from 10 to 40 percent, brought at all times of the day and night; 

 and the creameryman and the buttermaker are expected to make 

 just as good an article as ever and perhaps a better one. 



Now, in case a poor can of milk is brought, the buttermaker 

 does not hesitate to reject it. But he hesitates more about re- 

 jecting a can of cream for he knows very well that if he does, 

 he will lose his patron. Competition is so close that a pretty 

 poor article of cream may be got rid of. Everyone of our one 

 hundred and fifty patrons can go equally as well to either of two 

 creameries, some to three, some to four, and a very few of them 

 to five. Each creamery stands ready to accept any and all the 

 other's patrons if it can get them. We want to make butter 

 enough to keep the cost at 2 cents a pound including the re- 

 serve. You might say that the creamery should have printed 

 regulations and send a committee to visit the different dairies. 

 That is all very well theoretically, but practically it does not work. 



That there is so much poor butter is not the fault of the 

 buttermaker. He is usually a good workman. The cause is 

 inferior milk or cream. With expensive machinery and expert 



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