128 THIRTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



MUTUAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BUTTER 

 MAKER AND PATRON. 



By Hon. W. \Y. Higbee of Charlotte. Vt. 



Napoleon said that to particularize the bravery of his men 

 who crossed the bridge of Lode, in the Italian campaign, he 

 would order the roll call of the whole brigade. Call the roll 

 of seven-eighths of the farmers of Vermont, and you will find 

 they are dairymen. 



What is the object of these meetings? What good is to re- 

 sult from them? If understood correctly, it is to gather the 

 cream of individual opinions and suggestions and then try and 

 churn out of it something of value — and this "churn test," 

 after being properly worked, and packed, should show how 

 much the associations are worth to the state. 



The best creamery that money can build and equip, with ten 

 or twenty or thirty thousand pounds of milk a day, will be a 

 failure with a poor butter maker. Competition is so sharp, 

 and the taste of the public has become so acute that poor butter 

 will not sell at a profit. The maker must produce an article 

 that the dealer takes pride in handling. The grocer does not en- 

 joy apologizing for the off quality of his goods. The commis- 

 sion man who handles your output is anxious to retain your 

 trade when he knows that the consignments are constantly 

 kept up to a "gold standard," and he is continually asking 

 for " more," like poor, little starving Oliver Twist, although 

 the simile ends here, for no one will have the hardihood to say 

 that the commission man is very often found in a starving 

 condition. 



The buttermaker should feel his responsibility. He has put 

 into his care the entire plant. He is engineer, machinist. 

 He should know if the machinery is working properly before 

 a break down occurs, that proper care could have hindered, 

 entailing vexatious delay and considerable expense. Time is 

 money when perhaps a dozen to twenty farm teams are wait- 

 ing to unload and get away to hurrying work at home. 



He weighs the milk. Is he careful and correct ? Are his 

 scales kept balanced ? The only answer to these two ques- 

 tions is Yes. I guess so, will not do. Is he getting the prop- 

 er amount of cream ? Is it properly ripened, so there will be 

 the least work in churning ? After the churn, the salting, 

 packing. Is the cold storage all right ? Is he careful in tak- 



