136 Cooperation in Agriculture 



factories, two hundred and forty-four were in Wisconsin, 

 twenty-four in Minnesota, and thirty-nine in New York. 



In former years, butter-making was a part of the duties 

 of the household. The milk was set in pans in the cellar, 

 the cream was skimmed off and was converted into butter 

 in hand churns. Later on when various kinds of butter- 

 making machinery had been devised, the butter factory 

 and the modern creamery were successively organized. 

 At first the milk was taken to the creamery by the farmers 

 or was gathered from them by collectors in the employ 

 of the creamery. There it was run through a separator and 

 the butter-fat removed, or the cream alone was delivered 

 to the factory, where it was made into butter, the skimmed 

 milk being returned to the farm to use for feeding hogs. 

 The butter was usually sent to a commission merchant. 

 The modern creamery is generally a well-organized and 

 well-equipped factory operated by well-trained, skillful 

 men. It is no longer a hit-and-miss operation. It re- 

 quires a knowledge of chemistry, bacteriology, sanitary 

 science, and the application of this knowledge to the de- 

 tails of butter-making. Under no other conditions can 

 a modern creamery succeed. 



A creamery should include the produce of 400 to 600 

 cows to insure its successful operation as a business enter- 

 prise. It is better still to have a thousand cows registered 

 in its membership, because the economy of operation and 

 the success in the distribution of the product increases 

 with the volume of business. Many creameries have 

 been formed with fewer than 400 cows, but it is an ex- 

 ception to find one of this size that is successful. 



A creamery is usually formed as a stock corporation 



