42 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[March , 



make presentable the plainest dress. If 

 economy must be studied in children's clothes, 

 let it be in trimmings and ruffles, and not in 

 those things which give warmth and comfort. 

 To practice economy successfully requires a 

 great deal of study and experience. It is gen- 

 erally not a very encouraging or pleasant 

 thing to do, and yet there are those who have 

 become enthusiastic in it. It has seemed to 

 have almost the fascination of a game to some 

 to see how little they could live on and live 

 comfortably. If one has to do it, it is better 

 to do it such a spirit, than complainingly and 

 fretfully. And, as to accomplish something 

 is always a satisfaction, there may be a cer- 

 tain satisfaction in the study and experiment- 

 ing that leads to a knowledge of how to 

 economize in the best way and places, how to 

 live well, and at the same time live cheaply. 

 ■ — Chicago Weekly Magazine. 



Our Local Organizations. 



LANCASTER COUNTY AGRICULTURAL 

 AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The Lancaster County Agricultural and Horticul- 

 tural Society met statedly on Monday afternoon, 

 March 5th. The following menabers and visitors 

 were present : H. G. Rush, West Willow; John C. 

 Liiiville, Gap ; H. M. Eugle, Marietta; Casper Hil- 

 ler, Conestoga : Joseph F. Witmer, Paradise ; J. G. 

 Rush, Willow Street; S. G. Engle, Marietta; E. B. 

 Brubaker, Elizabeth ; David M. Eyre and wife, 

 Schock's Mills; Johnson Miller, Lititz ; W. B. Pax- 

 sou, Colerain i F. R. DifTenderffer, city ; W. W- 

 Griest, city ; C. A. Gast, city ; J. M. Johnston, city ; 

 John I. Carter, Chatham, Chester county; John 

 Musser, East Donegal ; John Huber, Pequea ; 3. F. 

 Eby, Esq., city ; Levi S. Relet, Warwick ; Cyrus Neff, 

 MouDtville ; M. D. Kendig, Creswell ; C. L. Hun- 



secker, .Manheim ; Herr, Pequea ; Peter Her- 



shey, city ; Calvin Cooper, Bird-in-Hand ; John H. 

 Landis, Manor; Peter S. Reist, Lititz; J. T. Clark, 

 Chestnut Level; E. H. Hershey, Manheim; J. B. 

 Reist, Manheim ; G. W. Hunter, city ; B. K. Miller, 

 Millersville ; A. B. Bruckhart, West HempSeld ; 

 Amos Bushoug, East Lampeter ; W. B. Stewart, 

 city; J. S. Eshleman, Wayne county, Ohio; D. B. 

 Keeports, city. 



The meeting was called to order by H. M. Engle, 

 who assumed the position of President at the request 

 of the President elect, Mr. Rush. 



On motion the reading of the minutes of the previ- 

 ous meeting was dispensed with . 



Mr. J. M. Eaby, of Paradise, was elected a mem- 

 ber of the society. 



The regular order of business was, on motion, dis- 

 pensed with, and Mr. John J. Carter, of Chester 

 county. Introduced. The gentleman delivered the 

 following address on the subject of 

 Creameries. 



The subject assigned to me to write upon today, 

 had to be accepted with some little latitude, because 

 I have very little e.xperience with the practical work- 

 ings of creameries, proper— a creamery, meaning a 

 butter and skim milk cheese factory — and further. 

 I thought a wider range given to the subject, em- 

 bracing other classes of dairy product manufactories, 

 and various systems of cream raising might be equal- 

 ly interesting and instructive. 



The manufacture of butter and cheese, etc., in 

 one establishmen^f the milk of a number of dairies, 

 is certainly an advance over the old plan, of every 

 dairyman making his own butter. The farmer, 

 making but 25 to .50 [rounds per week cannot afford 

 that complete equipment necessary in an establish- 

 ment making 1,000 to 1,500 pounds. With these 

 better facilities, a better article is made, and one 

 much more regular in quality than if made in the 

 20 or 30 different lots by the farmers themselves. 



The opportunities for effecting good sales and 

 securing a steady market are greatly increased when 

 large quantities are to be disposed of, and better 

 terms of shipment, and in fact, all advantages are 

 enhanced by having a large amount of products to 

 dispose of in one transaction. The testimony of our 



marketmen shows that there has been a rapid 



advance in the average value of our butter product, 

 since the advent of the creamery system in Eastern 

 Pennsylvania. Creamery or factory butter has a 

 quotable price, whereas the butter made in small 

 dairies is very uncertain both in quality and price, 

 much of it selling below the cost of production. 



The late introduction of imitation butter from 

 snune and oleomargarine, has very greatly depreci 

 ated the price of these cheap butters, and the cream 

 eries came in very opportunely, ofleriug an outlet for 

 the milk of these unprofitable dairies. 



Butter making by farmers has also been unsatis- 

 factory from the uncertainty of prices to be realized; 

 nothing but the vaguest of guesses as to the probable 

 price from on ■ week to another. 



This uifertainty intimidated farmers from stock- 

 ing with cows, that could have judiciously used up 

 their surplus provender. Creameries and butter 

 factories have more regularity as to prices. They 

 can give a pretty definite idea of the probable average 

 price of milk for a year or for the varying seasons. 



This enables the farmer to make calculations of 

 probable profit, and he can safely decide, how he 

 shall stock his farm. For inst.ince, in my factory, 

 whicli is only a butter factory, I find the average 

 price for milk, during the year, reckoning it every 

 two weeks to be 3'., cents per quart, or $1.33 per 

 hundred pounds. .Some creameries maj* return 

 more than this, but 1 presume it is a fair average. It 

 will vary a little with defunct years, but not more 

 than the price of other staple farm products. A 

 farmer having a milk dairy, can speedily turn it into 

 some other line of farming, should anything occur to 

 make a change desirable. Cows are a merchantable 

 article, at any time or condition. There can be no 

 loss on dairy appliances, for but little is invested in 

 them. Perhaps, one of the most serious items of 

 expense for the farmers to consider before going into 

 the milk business is the hauling. Two-and a-half 

 miles is quite far enough for the farmer to haul, or 

 safe lor the creamery to receive. To be sure it is 

 sometimesdrawn much farther; but the circumstances 

 should be favorable, such as good roads, a cheap 

 driver, and to points where there are also shops, 

 mills, poBtotfices, etc., where the daily visit could do 

 other errands. Such distant farmers should also 

 have a suitable place to cool and keep the evening's 

 milk over night — as very little tainting will spoil it 

 for any purpose. These remarks bring me to the 

 location of creameries— they should be near some 

 public place accessible by good roads — situated on 

 some stieam, with wiiter power, or at lea.st with 

 plenty of water. Water is a good absorbent of 

 odors, as well as a cleanser, and milk refuse is a 

 very offensive thing. Ice is a necessity also, and is 

 expen.sive to haul. They should be situated in a 

 good farming district, where good pasture and pure 

 water will insure sound milk. There must be cows 

 enough, present or prospective, within a radius of 

 2\; miles, to support it. It will not be safe to cal- 

 culate on many farmers making a specialty of dairy 

 ing. Mixed farming will probably be the rule in 

 Eastern Pennsylvania for many years yet. The 

 dairies will probably run from 5 to 'AH cows. 



A cooperative creamery possesses some advantages. 

 Less individual capital is required, and the milk 

 patrons, if stockholders, arc interested in keeping up 

 a good supply of milk and its quality, and would not 

 be 60 tempted to w.ater it. On the other hand cream- 

 eries or factories, run by individual enterprise, are 

 likely to have conflict ol counsel and troubles of 

 management. An exclusive owner will be likely to 

 give it his fullest attention ; to act with more prompt- 

 ness, and to carry out more effectively a settled line 

 of policy. A good price paid will mostly bring good 

 milk, whether the dairyman is a stockholder or not. 

 But all factories suffer more or less from adulterated 

 milk. 



Taking all together I rather favor the plan of in- 

 dividual enterprise. Whatever plan is adopted, it 

 should be borne in mind that from the nature of 

 things, the business is limited in extent, and there 

 can be no great bonanza in it as a speculation. For 

 reasons given before, the area of supply is limited. 

 Hardly any vicinity would atford a yield of more 

 than 1,.500 to 2000 pounds of butter per week, or its 

 equivalent of butter and cheese. A margin of 4 to 5 

 cents per pound above the cost of the milk is consid- 

 ered a reasonable profit for a butter factory. This 

 does not include the value of skimmed milk. As 

 this advance is to cover the cost of labor, running 

 expenses, and interest and loss on investment, it is 

 easy to see that the investment in buildings and ap- 

 pliances should not be too great if a reasonable profit 

 is expected. 



And this brings me to the consideration of the 

 kind of a factory. We have in our vicinity three 

 kinds: butter and cheese; butter and curd, and 

 butter and hogs. 



Butter and cheese factories, or what are usually 

 called creameries, are the most popular. If they 

 are well located, and judiciously run, and are fortu- 

 nate in having a good cheese maker, they are doubt 

 less the most profitable. 



To make a well-managed skim-milk cheese, is per- 

 haps the best use that sfiim-milk can be put to. The 

 product is healthy, palatable, and profitable. But it 



is almost a science to make them so. Many failures 

 have occurred among creameries from the employ- 

 ment of unskilled cheese-makers. 



Expensive appliances as well as skilled labor are 

 required to run a creamery profitably. An outlay of 

 *6,000 to $8,000 will be needed, and the equipmeut 

 rather perishable. The routine of their manage- 

 ment is BO well known that a detailed description 

 would be superfluous. Butter and curd factories are 

 few, as the market for the curd is somewhat limited. 

 They are equipped somewhat like a butter and 

 chee.se factory, but wiihout the presses and cheese 

 rooms. 



They take all the cream out of the milk, and clabber 

 the skim milk, by heat or otherwise, which is broken 

 and drained of its whey, somewhat like cheese-curp. 

 This smear-case is branded and shipped to a factory 

 in Philadelphia, where it is made into Dutch hand- 

 cheese, weighing from one to two pounds. The 

 curd brings two cents per pound — less freight. One 

 hundred pounds of milk will make at this time of 

 the year about 3' 4 pounds of butter and S pounds of 

 curd. The advantages over creameries are less, and 

 cheaper labor, as well as less machinery and outlay, 

 ing capital. The whey is also worth more than 

 creamery whey, as it contains the buttermilk. 

 Creameries usually use their buttermilk to give 

 body to their cheese. A simple butter factory can 

 be a much cheaper establishment. Less room is 

 needed and the outlay for appliances need not exceed 

 |1,000 or $1,500. Still less labor is required, of 

 course, than in either of the other kind of factories. 

 A man and boy can make 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of 

 butter i)er week, and only employ half their time. 

 The pork in this case stands against the curd and 

 the skim cheese. Hogs will not only grow but fatten 

 on skim milk alore, particularly during warm 

 weather. Under favorable circumstances, they will 

 gain from 1'$ to 2 pounds gross per day. It is not 

 judicious to feed a hog too long on an exclusive 

 milk diet. I prefer to buy sboats, weighing .50 to 75 

 pounds and teed until they weigh 2.50 pounds, at 

 which weight they are sold. A hog will drink from 

 3 to 4 gallons per day, and should be fed four times 

 at least. An occasional feed of meal or bran, is 

 needed as a corrective to a disposition to costiveness. 

 In connection with our factory I keep about 100 head 

 of hogs, changing them off" every three or four 

 months. This is done on the skim milk, from the 

 average make of fiOO pounds of butter per .week. 

 Probably the skim-milk contained a good deal of fat. 

 It was good for the hogs but bad for the butter- 

 maker. Our average of milk to a pound of butter 

 for the whole year was eleven quarts. This was too 

 much, and this brings me to the best plans for rais- 

 ing cream or extricating fat from milk The old- 

 fashioned shallow pan is very seldom used in factories. 

 Creameries use large, deep vessels arranged for rapid 

 cooling with ice, the object being to get a portion of 

 cream off, before the milk turns, else its value for 

 cheese is lessened. Many different patents are 

 used, all having the s^me object in view. Some 

 factories tried underground air-ducts, proposing to 

 cool the milk with cold air — but the plan proved in- 

 efficient and expen.sive Simple butter factories usu- 

 ally usse spring water as the cooling medium, with 

 the small deep cooling can, or other water bath pan. 



The latest and perhaps the best cream-raiser is 

 the Centrifugal Creamer, a late Danish invention 

 now being manufactured and introduced by the 

 Philadelphia Creamery Supply Company of that 

 city. 1 have had one of these machines in operation 

 a few weeks, and am confident that it will take out 

 10 per cent, more fat or butter than my annual ave- 

 rage, which was a fair one. This will be a large 

 item to butter factories where the aim is to take out 

 all the butter they can. Not only is more butter 

 taken out, but the cream is in excellent condition for 

 butter, ice cream, or any purpose whatever. The 

 new milk just from the cow is run through the 

 machine, thus avoiding any risk from exposure to 

 taints or odors while settling in the milk-room wait- 

 ing for the cream to raise. It gives perfect control 

 of the cream, as you can churn at any stage of ripe- 

 ness, from perfect sweetness to bitter sour. Acci- 

 dental impurities in the milk have less time to injure 

 the whole mass, as the cream is separated rapidly and 

 all dirt or sediment thoroughly separated from the 

 milk and cream. A large proportion of the space 

 now required for setting the three milkings can be 

 saved, as the milk runs through the machine as 

 delivered at the factory. So far we have discovered 

 no injury to the grain of the butter, on the contrary, 

 the quality is very good and regular. The machine 

 consists of a horizontally revolving cylinder twenty- 

 five inches in diameter and 18 inches deep, holding, 

 when running, about .W quarts. It runs at a speed 

 of '.^,000 revolutions per minute. It is fed by a half- 

 inch pipe, delivering the milk at the bottom of the 

 cylinder, with outlet pipes for cream and skim- 

 milk. It requires about a 3-horse power to drive It, 

 but so far shows no siuus of giving out, notwith 

 standing its great speed. We run through 1,000 

 pounds of milk per hour, and are now able to make 

 a pound of butter from 23 pounds of factory milk. 

 I should not wonder if it revolutionized butter- 

 making to some extent. It will at least place butter 

 factories on a par with creameries. They cannot 



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