BUYING MILK AND CREAM 55 



the creamery. This is usually caused by his failure to remove 

 all of the cream from the patron's can, improper sampling, errors 

 in reading or the reading of unsatisfactory tests, or possibly the 

 loss of cream in transit. The latter can easily be checked by 

 comparing the pounds of cream shipped from the station with 

 the amount received by the creamery. With the exception of the 

 last point, the operator of the station has practically the whole 

 matter in his hands. The very fact that many stations are check- 

 ing within less than one per cent of the amount of butter fat 

 handled is an encouragement for others to work for a similar 

 standard. Accurate, painstaking work at the creamery and at 

 the station will eliminate excessive losses. 



In the majority of the cream stations, the cream is weighed 

 and tested and the station operator pays the farmers direct. In 

 fact one of the advantages of the station system lies in the fact 

 that the farmer can see his cream tested and can get his money 

 upon delivery of the cream. This feature has its disadvantages 

 too, in the fact that it often brings about hasty and inaccurate 

 testing and unreliable tests. In some states (Kansas for 

 instance) the law forbids the testing of the cream on the day it 

 is received, so as to guard against abuses of the station testing. 



Some cream stations merely weigh and sample the cream 

 and send the mixed cream and the samples to the central 

 creamery, and the creamery sends the checks to the patrons 

 either direct or through the station operator. Here, as in the 

 route system, the creamery often experiences serious difficulties 

 in making the station fat check with the creamery fat and the 

 shortages are usually against the creamery. 



The station operator generally receives a commision of from 

 two to four cents per pound of butterfat handled. This, to- 

 gether with operating expense and railway charges for shipping 

 the cream to the creamery, causes the expense of buying by 

 the station system to amount to about from three to six cents 

 or over per pound of butterfat, not including the usual short- 

 ages in the butterfat due to differences between station and 

 creamery tests. 



Independent Cream Buyers. Another phase of the cream 

 station system is that known as the independent cream buyer. 



