120 MANAGEMENT OF DAIRY PLANTS 



will occur. Furthermore this plan brings immediate informa- 

 tion to the oflSce in reference to discontinued patrons. 



Station System. — A cream station is a plant rented or 

 owned and operated by a creamery for the purpose of buying 

 and usualy pasteurizing cream collected from the surround- 

 ing territory, and then sending it to the creamery for manu- 

 facture. The station itself may receive cream from individual 

 patrons and from routes, and so far as the cream purchasing is 

 concerned this is managed in the same manner as in a small 

 creamery. A building 15 by 30 feet in size usually answers the 

 purpose, and the main equipment needed is a 4 to 10 horse- 

 power boiler, a 2 horse-power engine, a water pump, a steam 

 tester, and a cream ripener which may be used both as a cream 

 pasteurizer and as a cooler. For a skimming station one or 

 more separators should be added and the size of the boiler and 

 engine increased in proportion. 



The greatest advantages of the station are that the cream- 

 ery, through its agent (the station operator), can keep in close 

 touch with its more distant customers and that the quality of 

 the cream is improved by pasteurizing and properly cooling it 

 before it is shipped to the central plant. The main objection 

 to the station system is the cost of operation and the invest- 

 ment involved. 



A station should receive cream from not less than 300 to 400 

 cows in order to keep the expense per pound of butter fat within 

 a reasonable limit. The expense may be somewhat reduced if 

 it is possible for the station operator to haul the cream from one 

 of the routes three days of the week and receive cream at the 

 station on the other three days. Some of the stations manufac- 

 ture butter enough to take care of local demand. 



I. Station Reports. — Form XI is a report blank which may 

 be used by the stations in reporting to the central plant. It will 

 be noted that part of this blank is filled out at the central plant. 

 The statement is intended to give a complete record of the daily 

 cream receipts of the station. Losses sustained, due to improper 

 weighing or testing, and the disposition of the product reported 

 by this record are checked at the central plant. 



