6 



BULLETIN 853, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



year the prices paid for butter. Many farmers stated that before 

 the establishment of the creamery the hucksters made their own 

 prices, which were very low during the summer months. Now, 

 owing to the keen competition, the prices of dairy products during 

 the months of large production have not been so low as formerly. 



The creamery building was constructed according to plans made 

 by the engineers of the Dairy Division and financed by a stock com- 

 pany organized by the business men of Grove City. This building 

 was taken over by the Department of Agriculture on a long-term 

 lease which insured the stock company a reasonable return on its 

 investment. It provides facilities for conducting investigations 



Fig. 3.— Creamery at Grove City. 



which can not be carried on in the laboratories in Washington, and 

 also provides facilities for studying methods of creamery operation 

 in general. 



The creamery buys both cream and whole milk. Principally on 

 account of the large sales of cottage cheese made from skim milk, the 

 creamery has been able to pay good prices for whole milk, and many 

 of the best dairymen are now selling their entire product instead of 

 separating the cream and feeding the skim milk to calves and pigs. 



CLASSIFICATION OF FARMS. 



Reports from 422 farmers are used as a basis for this study. Sixty- 

 three of these derived the greater portion of their receipts from work 

 off the farm. These cases are discussed under "Income from sources 

 outside the farm, " page 30. On 10 farms the greater part of the crop 



