130 THIRTIETH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE 



The patron has something- to do, and a great deal to do. He 

 should operate with the buttermaker in all reasonable ways, 

 to any reasonable extent. If the maker tells him he cannot 

 do good work with frozen milk, he should take pains that it 

 does not freeze through any neglect. 



If the maker tells him he cannot make first class butter 

 from milk that has been stored in a stable or in the alley way in 

 front of the cows, the patron should govern himself accord- 

 ingly. Milk improperly strained, full of straw and hay. is 

 not the kind of a thing the patron would place on his own ta- 

 ble for food uses. It should be offered to no one else in that 

 condition. If the patron has a can of sour milk, he should 

 not expect the maker to take it. Care of milk on the farm is 

 as important a theme for discussion as care of milk at the 

 creamery, and it means just as much in a financial way. 



Patrons should bear in mind that their cash returns depend 

 mainly on two things ; first, good milk, second, good but- 

 ter making. Fine butter advertises itself. It forces its way 

 in the market. It somehow "gets there." The best sales- 

 man in the world cannot continuously and successfully push 

 an inferior article. The day has passed for packing fine but- 

 ter in barrels, to be dug out in the rough. It is almost like 

 stepping into an art gallery to go through the sales rooms of 

 an up to date grocery dealer. It is the attractive package 

 that counts to start with, though quality is all the time the 

 essential thing. It is a business matter all around. The but- 

 ter maker is paid so much for his time and skill, and the pat- 

 ron depends upon the nature of this work for his returns. 

 The success of one gauges the prosperity of the other. The 

 creamery has done a great deal for Vermont in many ways. 

 It has raised the all around standard of her butter. It lias 

 increased her prosperity. I can name to you localities where 

 mortgage debts have been paid largely by creamery checks, 

 when the same land holders were before fighting a discourag- 

 ing if not a losing battle. More than all the rest, it has light- 

 ened the load of care and labor that the wives in all these 

 homes were staggering under — and when I say staggering 

 under, the phrase is used advisedly. 



Certain local "centers of trade," where Saturdays were 

 market days and every body for miles around felt conscience 

 smitten unless they answered to roll call, may have mild 

 grudges laid up against the creameries, but local stores and 

 trades have prospered thereby, to everybody's advantage. It 

 is safe to say that the creamery is here to stay. What it does 

 for you depends upon what you do. It will not run itself any 

 more than a store or a bank, a locomotive without an engi- 

 neer, or a steamboat without a pilot. 



