48 BUYING Miuc AND CREAM 



of bringing to the creamery the cream which by the direct de- 

 livery system requires the time of a score or more of patrons 

 and the use of as many conveyances and the traveling of hun- 

 dreds of miles to deliver it. The route can cover a much wider 

 area and it brings the market so close to the door of the patron, 

 that even the farmer who has but a very few cows and can 

 offer only a small amount of cream, can afford to patronize the 

 creamery. The cream route, therefore, is a stimulant to the dairy 

 business, it encourages the milking of cows, it saves the farmer 

 the time and equipment necessary to haul his own cream, it 

 reduces the cost of delivery and increases the cream supply of 

 the creamery. 



Its disadvantage lies in the fact that by the route system 

 the creamery operator is no longer in direct touch with the 

 patron. It deals with the patron through the hauler. It must 

 depend on the hauler to take correct weights, and samples of 

 the farmers' cream and to induce the farmer to furnish cream of 

 good quality. The success of this system much depends on the 

 efficiency, conscientiousness and loyalty of the cream hauler. 

 Unfortunately the work of cream hauling, and the compensation 

 for this work, do not always attract men qualified as cream 

 route men. The cream hauler who fails to understand the 

 principle and to appreciate the importance of securing represen- 

 tative samples of cream, or who is so little interested in his 

 business that he permits the patron to become careless in the 

 handling of the cream, resulting in poor quality, or who, for 

 private gain, undermines the faith of the patron in the integrity 

 of the creamery, is obviously a costly liability, rather than a 

 valuable asset to the creamery. 



Experience with the route system has demonstrated that 

 the quality of the cream received from the routes is a fairly 

 reliable index to the character and efficiency of the cream hauler. 

 The routes furnishing the best cream are usually found to be 

 manned by the most efficient and reliable haulers. In a similar 

 way the degree to which the route fat checks with the creamery 

 fat reflects fairly accurately the performance of the hauler. 

 Routes operated by efficient and conscientious haulers seldom 

 show serious shortages in fat, the fluctuations are slight and 



