TWELFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VIII 359 



operated a battery of separators steady power was necessary and the 

 gasoline engine was too young an invention to have obtained that 

 uniform motion which it possesses today. Then someone cried out that 

 the odor of gasoline would taint the butter, and a prejudice was 

 born that only a year or so ago began to give way to business judg- 

 ment and discretion. The gasoline engine has been developed and 

 Improved until today it has reached the point of perfection and its 

 economical power has been recognized in all classes of factories except 

 the creamery. Now it is our turn to take advantage of it and cast 

 all inherited tendencies and fallacies aside and use our own heads. 

 We must break away from these because-others-do ideas and do more 

 thinking for ourselves. 



The operation of power separators requires just as steady and 

 uniform power as it ever did, but I claim the gasoline engine will 

 deal out that uniform power at an astonishing low cost compared 

 to steam. Where will we get our steam? From a boiler the same 

 as you do now, only use a boiler in proportion to the amount of steam 

 required — not of the size our predecessors thought was necessary. 

 For instance a small 8 or 10 horse boiler will operate your turbine 

 tester, will heat your water, pasteurize your milk or cream and sup- 

 ply all the steam necessary for an average size local creamery and 

 do it with a surprisingly small amount of coal. 



Another prejudice which has grown against the gasoline engine is 

 the idea that you can't depend on it. Perhaps a few years ago that 

 was true, but if you supply the modern gasoline engine with gasoline 

 and an electric spark you will get power just as surely as you will 

 if you supply your steam plant with water and fire. 



Supposing we find that a small boiler and a gasoline engine will 

 save 50 per cent of our power cost, what will we do with our big boiler 

 and engine, asks some manager. The same thing you would do with any 

 other piece of machinery that is out of date and for which can be 

 substituted something that would save money and labor. Sell it if 

 you can, and if you can't, let it remain idle. It is more economical 

 for it to stand idle than to run It if if costs you 50 per cent more 

 than necessary. 



The matter of power is a plain business proposition which each 

 must work out for himself, but I want to get you to do more think- 

 ing about it. 



The first gasoline engine I put in was a 2i^ horse capacity. We 

 attached it to the main line shaft and instead of keeping up steam 

 until four or five o'clock in the afternoon just to run the ripener, 

 we cooled with this little engine, and in that way alone saved 160 

 pounds of coal per day. Next we took off the cylinder from the 

 steam pump and arranged a pump jack which is also operated from 

 the line shaft by an eccentric pully. Here again we saved steam 

 and fuel. 



Many creameries cool their cream direct with ice immediately after 

 it is received and many using starters cool with ice direct when the 

 proper acidity is reached. By careful experiment we found that we 



