DAIRYING 55 



These two punus of economy in skimming and churning and 

 the improvements in quality of the butter made, are the strongest 

 ones in favor of the separator creameries. It was soon found, 

 however, that farmers would not draw milk much more than five 

 miles to creameries, and in order to cover a larger territory, the 

 owners of separator creameries in some cases built and equipped 



skimming stations. 







637. The Skimming Station. This is usually a building 



erected only for the purpose of skimming milk. Its equipment 

 includes the weigh-can, platform scales, milk sample jars and 

 sampler, a large milk vat, cans for holding the cream, a skim 

 milk weigher, a power separator, and some kind of power for 

 operating it. In some cases turbine separators are used and a 

 boiler only is needed to run such a separator. Some power will 

 be needed, however, to operate the water pump and the milk 

 pumps. When a belt separator is used at these stations an 

 engine must be provided as well as a boiler. A good water 

 supply is also needed. This equipment, it will be seen, is nearly 

 equal to that of a creamery, the only difference being in the 

 size of the building, and a few additional fittings, such as the 

 cream vat, the churn, butter worker, and refrigerator. The boiler 

 of a skimming station may also be considerably smaller than is 

 needed at the creamery, especially when a gasoline engine or 

 possibly a tread power is used to run the separator. A tread 

 power is economical in cases where the horses which operate 

 it are used to draw the cream to the creamery after the skimming 

 is done. A small boiler can be so arranged that danger from 

 freezing in cold weather may be avoided by draining it, together 

 with all steam and water pipes when the day's work is done. It 

 can be filled, when needed to begin work, by the pump, which is 

 operated by the gasoline engine or tread power. 



638. Economy of Gasoline Engine. When a skimming sta- 

 tion is located some distance from the fuel supply, the gasoline 

 engine is a very economical power, as it has been demonstrated 

 that the cost of the gasoline necessary to operate the engine 

 which skimmed eight thousand pounds of milk per day at a 

 station, was no greater than the cost of drawing the coal eight 



