56 DAIRYING 



miles to this station, if a steam engine had been used to do the 

 same work. In this calculation the use of gasoline, however, 

 saved the first cost of the coal, as the cost of drawing the gaso- 

 line is not included, because it was drawn by the cream hauler. 

 The gasoline bill only amounted to the price of drawing the 

 ioal.* 



These and other suggestions in the line of economy in build- 

 ing and running a skimming station should be carefully con- 

 sidered when the subject is under discussion, for while there are 

 localities where they are undoubtedly profitable, this is not uni- 

 versally true. The conditions of any locality must be studied 

 by themselves, as it is not s*afe to conclude that when a skim- 

 ming station is a success in one place it will be so everywhere. 



III. Directions for Starting a Whole Milk Creamery. 



639. When a number of farmers become convinced that a 

 creamery will be beneficial to the neighborhood in which they 

 live, the first thing to be done is to make a careful canvass of the 

 surrounding country for the purpose of ascertaining the number 

 of cows that can be depended on to furnish milk to the factory. 

 The best way to- accomplish this is to circulate a paper which 

 must be signed by each farmer, pledging himself to send milk to 

 the creamery from a certain number of cows. In order to assure 

 the success of the enterprise there should be found at least three 

 hundred cows within five miles of the factory. In some cases 

 creameries have been started with less than this number of cows 

 in sight, but unless there is good reason to expect the number 

 to increase to three hundred or more in the near future, the 

 creamery cannot be expected to prove a paying investment. 



640. The Milk Supply and Cost of Operating. The milk 

 supply from three hundred rows will range from three thousand 

 to six thousand pounds per day during the year, depending on 

 the kind of cows kept. In a new territory, where the creamery 

 is usually started, not much more than four thousand pounds 

 of milk per day during the vear can be depended on from three 

 hundred cows. Assuming that this will test 4.0 per cent fat and 



make 4.5 pounds of butter per hundred pounds of milk, the 



\ 

 * Private Communication from H. B. Gurler. 



