EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII. 303 



have adopted some of the better business methods, of the straight- 

 forward, honest business methods of the centralized plants, that 

 there will be no question but that they can compete and compete 

 successfully with any centralizing plant in the business. I do not 

 know whether you have any figures, Mr Webster, that would 

 show up more clearly the average earnings made by the small 

 creamery. 



Mr. Webster: The one that showed 13 per cent overrun in a 

 small creamery manufacturing 75,000 lbs. of butter, would be an 

 average of the condition of the poorer creameries reported to us. 

 We divided the creameries into two classes, those getting less than 

 18% per cent and more than 18% per cent, and the average over- 

 run of these is less than 13 per cent; the average overrun of 

 those getting more than ISi/o per cent is 21% per cent. 



I would not insult the intelligence of the men in the centralized 

 creameries by comparing them with poorly managed creameries. 

 We must compare them with well managed creameries to get like 

 results. At the same time I showed you actual facts as they exist 

 in the territory where centralizers fix the price. They pay less 

 than every poorly managed creamery you spoke of at the present 

 time. 



Prof. Bowers: The point is we want to have efficient, strong 

 co-operative creameries. I think a lot are mismanaged and perhaps 

 we might emphasize that a little more. As to getting 13 per cent 

 overrun, I do not think it is possible to get 13 per cent overrun in 

 any creamery unless it is a whole milk plant where they lose a lot 

 of fat in the skim milk and butter milk. The fact that you have 

 put a 13 per cent overrun there would show that while those cream- 

 eries might be only geting a 13 per cent overrun, it might be due 

 to over-reading the tests. All these are points that should be em- 

 phasized in that direction. 



Prop. Webster: That is another question entirely and for the 

 sake of this argument I tried to eliminate that feature. I could 

 talk half the afternoon as to what the poor creameries ought to do, 

 but at the same time if a difference of four cents per pound exists 

 between what the centralizing plants are paying and the better 

 class of co-operative creameries are paying, it would mean about 

 twenty million dollars a year, and the very worst we could say of 

 the situation, should all the creameries get these small overruns, 

 it would only lose the farmer from three to five million dollars a 

 year, so it is really much smaller in comparison than the other 

 thing I have been talking to you about this afternoon. I have given 



