VERMONT DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 129 



ing" and preparing his milk samples? Is he careful and pains- 

 taking in his tests ? Are his rooms clean and sweet ? Are 

 his separators free from contamination, and does he under- 

 stand human nature well enough to meet his twenty-five to a 

 hundred patrons with the wisdom of the serpent and the ex- 

 ceeding harmlessness of the dove, when there occurs a slight 

 outbreak of hostilities over a difference in weights or a varia- 

 tion in tests? He is dealing with the pockets of his patrons, 

 and scientists have never yet discovered in human anatomy a 

 nerve so sensitive. Nature abhors a vacuum ; so does man- 

 kind — in the pocket. 



No matter how skillful your buttermaker in the details of his 

 business, how delicate and" correct his sense of taste and smell, 

 how perfect his machinery, to make good butter he must 

 have good milk. The fountain head must be pure, though 

 not necessarily in a watered sense. A single can of sour milk 

 injures an entire output for a day. A careless or obstinate or 

 slovenly patron not only damages himself, but perhaps 

 twenty-five to fifty others. His poor milk not only discounts 

 the butter from that day, but it injures the reputation of the 

 creamery, and the reputation of the maker. 



No wonder the buttermaker who prides himself in his busi- 

 ness, who calculates to make it his business, protests against 

 the supply at times. Can he make the patron see it and un- 

 derstand it without a row ? Perhaps so — but if he cannot, a 

 fairly sensible kind of a rumpus is better for the creamery 

 than a lot of poor milk. 



The buttermaker must be an honest man. He must have 

 the confidence of the patrons. There must be no partiality, 

 no matter where the straight course hits. 



This confidence will be particularly valuable to him when 

 he reaches the vital point — as the patron looks at it — the test. 



I should like to say right here in a paranthetical way, that 

 the cash returns to a creamery patron do not depend any more 

 upon the richness of his milk than the amount of it. Quality 

 is all right, but quantity not infrequently brings the largest 

 checks from the same number of cows. A dairy with a high 

 test, where the owner makes his own butter to fill orders at 

 high prices, will pay well, when the same number of cows 

 with a good deal lower test and larger milk flow, will pay 

 much better in a creamery where milk is made up together. 



The buttermaker should heartily interest himself in the 

 success of his employees. He should pride himself on the 

 quality of his output. If the market calls for packages that 

 require more work in preparing, he should be reasonable and 

 helpful in the premises. 



But he is not the only one who is facing responsibilities. 



