138 ILLINOIS DAIRYMEN-S ASSOCIATION. 



mean more to both owners and patrons. There are places in this 

 state where creameries are too numerous. A certain amount of 

 milk must be received in order to pay expenses and whatever is 

 received above this amount means more to all concerned. 



The interests of the farmers must not be forgotten. The 

 farmer cannot get along without the creamery and vice versa. I 

 do not believe it adds to the creamery interest of this state or any 

 other to solicit the farmers' product, whether it be milk or cream, 

 in what would seem to be a dishonest way. I know of a case 

 where a creamery sent a man out to get what cream he could. 

 The man had a hand tester with him and he would stop at the 

 different farms and test the cream. Invariably the cream tested 

 higher than I found it to test at the creamery they were patron- 

 izing. 



Creameries that handle hand separator cream should be 

 very careful how they gather or collect it. I am not in favor of 

 the system of employing a man regardless of his knowledge of 

 cream to be the judge. This is frequently the case when cream 

 is gathered from farms. The poor and the good are mixed 

 together in large cans and brought to the creamery. In that 

 case the buttermaker cannot tell where the poor cream originated. 

 This system is liable to give uncalled variations in tests of 

 cream. The creameries cannot be too careful in locating the 

 trouble and putting the blame \.here it belongs. 



The creameries should combine in getting a better grade 

 of goods delivered, but as long as one will take what another 

 will not and ought not to take, conditions will remain the same. 

 Why should the farmer expect or ask a creamery to take what he 

 knows is an inferior product and expect the best prices for it? 

 He does not expect it with corn or stock. Sometimes I think it 

 is an injustice to the farmer that produces good, clean, whole- 

 some cream to receive less for his product than the farmer does 

 who brings in cream that will not make extra butter even though 

 it tests higher. It is well enough to get cream testing in the 

 neighborhood of 33 per cent, but I believe it is far better to 

 grade cream on the basis of quality. If the farmer knows that 



