MARKETING PEAGTICES OF CEEAMEEIES. 3 



the time and method of payment to the patrons has been decided, 

 the detailed business features have consisted primarily of the keep- 

 ing of a record of the amount of cream delivered by each patron, the 

 delivery to the transportation agency of the butter produced, and the 

 consignment or shipment of it to market. The problem of transpor- 

 tation and market distribution for the most part have been taken 

 care of by the transportation agencies and wholesale distributors in 

 the market. 



BUYING POLICIES AND METHODS OF CREAMERIES. 



The methods employed in marketing milk and cream to creameries 

 have undergone marked changes in recent years. Prior to the gen- 

 eral use of cream separators on farms, the local creamery prevailed, 

 and practically every creamery obtained its supply of raw material 

 from farms in the vicinity of the creamery or skimming stations 

 which were reached by wagon routes. Reports obtained in 1915 from 

 900 creameries in Wisconsin and Minnesota showed that only 27 

 received whole milk exclusively, 243 received both milk and cream, 

 and 630 received separated cream only. 



Usually local cooperative creameries required the farmer . either to 

 pay the costs of country collecting or to deliver the milk or cream to 

 the creamery in person or as might be arranged. Reports from 127 

 creameries in Wisconsin showed that 71 creameries included the cost 

 of collecting in the operating expenses while 54 charged the cost 

 of collecting to the patron and 2 employed a combination of these 

 two methods. The cost of collecting varied from 0.5 to 4.6 cents per 

 pound butter fat, with an average cost of approximately 1.7 cents. 

 The patrons of many local creameries in Minnesota organized 

 " rings '' of two or more farmers, in which each took his turn in 

 hauling his own and the cream of the others. This method of haul- 

 ing gave each member the full benefit of a delivered price. At 

 about 20 per cent of the creameries, all or a part of the cream was 

 gathered by routes, the average length of which was about 23 miles. 

 At eight creameries which gathered their cream mostly by routes the 

 average cost of collecting 952,449 pounds of butter fat by routes was 

 2.7 cents per pound. 



At some creameries it was a common practice for the patrons to 

 deliver their cream every two or three days, although some delivered 

 only once a week. Those creameries which required daily deliv- 

 eries in summer, often permitted delivery every other day in winter, 

 and when three deliveries a week in summer were required, two were 

 permitted in winter. Many creameries required the cream to be de- 

 livered in the morning, while others accepted it at any time during 

 the day. 



