458 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



substantiate the statements made. The use of this system is wasteful' 

 in the extreme. 



The farmer who will partition off one end of his stock tank, put 

 a cover over it to exclude sun and dust, and arrange so that the water 

 from his windmill runs through this part of the tank, has an ideal 

 place to set his milk for hand skimming or to keep his milk or cream 

 for delivery to the creamery. If he skims his milk by this plan he 

 must be content to lose from one-sixth to one-fifth of the butter fat 

 and to take a low price for the butter fat he sells. 



AVERAGE WAGES OF BUTTER MAKERS. 



Reports of monthly wages paid 468 buttermakers of the State show 

 an average of $62 per month. Wages run as high as $150 per month- 

 Very few creameries now operate less than full time and no doubt the 

 average amount received yearly by the buttermakers of the state is fully 

 $725 to $750, a total for the State of $400,000. 



CHEESE FACTORIES AND THEIR PRODUCT. 



The cheese factories of the State now number twenty-nine and 

 reports have been received from twenty-five of these. Only five of 

 these make as much as 100,000 pounds of cheese, and but one makes 

 IS much as 200,000 pounds. The total amount of cheese made Is 

 ')575>646 pounds and practically all of it is sold and consumed in 

 the State. It is an anomalous situation that the greatest dairy state 

 in the west must import all but a small part of the cheese consumed, 

 but the fact remains that the farmers of this State have never taken 

 kindly to the cheese making and cheese factories are only possible under 

 exceptionably favorable conditions. 



