124 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



milk plant into the cream-gathering system and I am sorry to 

 say in many places not for the betterment of the products manu- 

 factured. The change came in many places very suddenly. In 

 some districts the change was brought about in less than two 

 years. This created considerable confusion among the cream- 

 eries. It took many of the buttermakers by surprise; they did 

 not thoroughly] understand this cream-gathering system and 

 many were not capable of coping with the situation so suddenly 

 thrust upon them. The results were that many, formerly suc- 

 cessful plants under the wholemilk system, went to the wall and 

 others received a setback which took them years to overcome. 

 The blame for all this trouble is invariably, by creamerymen, put 

 upon the so often cursed little hand separator. Yet, the separa- 

 tor can hardly be blamed. The bad condition of the roads in 

 many places during certain seasons of the year made it almost 

 impossible for the dairyman to get through and one cannot blame 

 them for wanting to make the load as light as possible. I am 

 of the same opinion as a creameryman I was discussing the sub- 

 ject with sometime ago when he said, "The trouble so many of 

 us had when we were obliged to change to the hand separator 

 system cannot be blamed onto the separator, but it was because 

 we did not thoroughly understand our business; we were not 

 capable of handling the situation so suddenly put before us and 

 take advantage of the new opportunity offered for bettering 

 ourselves." 



We may properly say that the introduction of the hand 

 separator marked a new era in the creamery industry. Since 

 it has come into general use creamerymen have been obliged to 

 adopt somewhat different methods, both in relation to the business 

 system and the general method of handling the product. 



It has developed some competition between creameries. It 

 has made possible a creamery in sections where a creamery was 

 almost an impossibility before, as they can cover and draw from 

 a larger territory. But it has left one bad effect, for it is general- 

 ly claimed by older creamerymen and the butter dealers that it 

 has lowered the standard of American butter. That is one thing 



