72 THE DAIRY INDUSTRY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE 



ter. They were usually milked during the summer, when 

 a year's supply of dairy products for the family was pre- 

 pared. It was not until the cities and towns sprung into 

 existence that the buying and selling of dairy products in 

 large quantities became possible or desirable. In 1845, 212 

 years after Mason 's importation of cows to New Hampshire 

 dairy farmers first began to send milk on the steam cars to 

 Boston. 



The first private creamery business in New Hampshire 

 was conducted by Charles H. Waterhouse in the town of 

 Barrington in 1881. Mr. Waterhouse was also manager 

 of the first co-operative creamery to be established by dairy 

 farmers in New Hampshire, which was located in the Sun- 

 cook Valley at Short Falls in the town of Epsom. It opened 

 its doors for business on April 6, 1885. For a period of 

 about two years previous to the introduction of centrifugal 

 cream separators, the milk, after it was received at the 

 creamery, was placed in cans of ice water and the cream al- 

 lowed to rise to the surface. A portion of the cream from 

 the morning's delivery was removed late in the afternoon 

 by a hand skimmer, and the remainder allowed to stand 

 until next morning. Mr. Kichard B. Hall of North Mon- 

 roe was the owner of the first centrifugal cream separator 

 to be used in the state, he having purchased a dairy size 

 machine in March, 1884. The Hanover creamery at Han- 

 over was the first co-operative concern in the state to use 

 power machines for separating cream. 



With the advent of cream separators, other creameries 

 were established in the best farming centers in the West 

 and northern parts of the state. Farmers in the southern 

 portion have found excellent markets for their milk, not 

 only in creameries but among the rapidly increasing popu- 

 lation of nearbv cities and towns. 



The importance of the dairy industry in New Hamp- 

 shire can hardly be overestimated. From its very inception 



