SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 455 



buttermakers claiming that they were getting habitually 20 or 

 22 per cent overrun, when tests of their butter showed but 12 

 or 14 per cent. 



The average creamery makes about 120,000 pounds of but- 

 ter a year, not counting in this the centralizing plants. At the 

 average price for last year this butter sells for nearly $30,000. 

 A difference of only five per cent in the overrun would amount 

 to more than $110 a month for this average creamery, nearly 

 twice the buttermaker's salary. If his butter was so poor in 

 quality as to lose this sum he would be promptly and properly 

 discharged, but there is many a creamery in this state whose 

 income could be easily increased in this particular an amount 

 equal to that here mentioned by a proper increase in the over- 

 run. The larger central plants, with which the smaller plants 

 compete do get this large overrun and competition makes it 

 necessary that the smaller ones who meet this competition shall 

 get as good an overrun as their larger competitors or go out 

 of business because of lack of ability to meet the competition. 

 A differende of only 5 per cent in the overrun mnkes, at least 

 year's prices a cent and a quarter on the pound of butter fat, 

 a difference of that much in the price the creamery can pay 

 the farmer for his butter fat, three-quarters of a million of 

 dollars for the creamery patrons of the state. 



Too many creamery managers and buttermakers rely upon 

 their computations at the end of the testing period in com- 

 puting the overrun. A much better way is to find the over- 

 run directly from the butter by analysis or other test. In such 

 a method there can be no mistakes arising from improper or 

 careless testing. It is in fact one method of determining 

 whether the testing has been accurate or not. One of the cen- 

 tral plants of this state regularly employs a chemist to analyze 

 its butter so that proper steps may be taken to increase or 

 decrease the overrun * to the proper and legitimate proportion. 

 Other central plants do something similar, so that they know 

 every day from the butter itself just what its contents are and 

 how much of the whole is butter fat and what percentage of 

 overrun. This department in the report of last year, illus- 



