254 N. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION. [Bulletin 141 



and easier to keep clean than wooden floors. The inside walls 

 should have a plain smooth finish with coved or rounded corners 

 if possible. 



Figure 1 shows a plan of a farm dain' which is suggested as 

 practical, convenient and within the reach of the average farmer 

 having a herd of 20 or more cows. The cost of such a building 

 as estimated by a local contractor need not exceed $500, and may 

 be built cheaper if sand and gravel can be had near the building 

 site, or if the lumber can be cut on the farm and part of the 

 labor furnished by farm hands. "With a stone or cement founda- 

 tion, even if the rest of the building is made of wood, it will last 

 a life time, eliminating accidents from fire and storm. A herd 

 of 20 cows averaging 280 pounds butter per cow per year, which 

 is considered a minimum production for a profitable and econom- 

 ical herd, would produce a total of 5600 pounds per year. Fig- 

 uring the building to be serviceable for 40 years, in that time 

 224,000 pounds of butter would have been made in the building. 

 The cost of the building would therefore only add .22 of a cent to 

 the cost of making a pound of butter. If no special building is 

 available for making the butter, a place must be provided some- 

 where for making the butter, hence the increased cost due to the 

 building would be less than .22 cents as it should be figured 

 on the difference between the cost of a separate building and the 

 cost of providing some other place to handle the milk and make 

 the butter. Considering the many advantages and conveniences 

 a special building affords, no one expecting permanently to take 

 up farm butter-making can afford to be without it. 



Location of Dairy. — The dairy should be located so as to be 

 free from contaminating surroundings, such as stable yards, pig 

 pens, poultry houses, or open ditches. The location should have 

 good natural drainage and the building have an artificial drain to 

 carry away the water used in the dairy and the water from the 

 ice in the refrigerator. An open ditch leading away from a 

 dairy is very undesirable as it offers a very favorable breeding 

 place for insects and bacteria and also gives off undesirable 

 odors. 



COST OF EQUIPMENT. 



The equipment and therefore the cost of equipment for butter- 

 making, apart from the dairy room or building itself, varies 



