?2 Thirty-Fifth Annual Repom op THE 



Perhaps you Avill say that 1 have encouraged the cream 

 gathering system, and discouraged whole milk. I will assure you 

 this is not the case. We have never taken out a power separator 

 from one of our creameries as long as we could get milk enough 

 to run it, but have continued to run the separator until long 

 after it ceased to pay. 



The last creamery we bought was originally a wdiole milk 

 creamery, and run as such for years. There probably was not 

 a hand separator in town for years after the creamery was built. 

 It seemed to be an ideal location for a whole milk creamery, as 

 it was located in the center of the town, making the trips com- 

 paratively short for almost every one. 



This creamery changed gradually to cream gathering, so 

 much so, that the first month after we bought it, we paid the 

 farmers for 17,414^ lbs. of butter fat from gathered cream, and 

 only paid them for 2,594 lbs. of butter fat from milk delivered. 

 This in spite of the fact that both of the former owners of this 

 creamery were in favor of whole milk creameries, and did all 

 possible to discourage the change to gathered cream. 



But I will go outside of my own county. The Franklin 

 County Creamery Association, which for many years was the 

 largest creamery in the world, originated as a whole milk cream- 

 ery, taking nothing but milk. Today a large part of the product, 

 so I am informed, is made from gathered cream. 



Look at the great West that changed so fast years ago from 

 cream gathering, from deep setting shot gun cans,, to whole milk 

 creameries, the last few; years changing a good deal more rapidly 

 from the whole milk to the gathered cream creameries and hand 

 separators. It is just possible, however, they are going too far, 

 or too fast out there with their centralizing plants. If so, without 

 doubt this will be regulated later. 



It all goes to show the trend in this direction, and that it 

 is a condition that we are up against. It is not which shall it 

 be, cream gathering or whole mill<;, but, as the cream gathering- 

 system is becoming fast an established fact, shall we merely de- 

 plore this fact, or shall we make the most of it? 



Now, the objection to the cream gathering system our Bos- 

 ton friends will tell us, is the poorer quality of the butter pro- 

 duced, and they perhaps have good reasons for their objection. 



We find in our experience that one of the reasons for poorer 

 quality of butter is that at least some separator agents, in their 

 anxiety to sell separators, will make the farmer believe they 

 require almost no care. The consequence is that too many of 

 the separators are not kept as clean as they should be. 



Also there has not been pains enough taken by the different 

 creameries to instruct the patrons how to take care of their 



