FORTY-SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION 169 



creamery business and it is not confined to any particular cream- 

 ery system. There are several ways that the creamery can make 

 unwholesome competition, and mislead its patrons. It is not nec- 

 essary for me to go into details. Of course it is never the in- 

 tention of the creamery doing those things to keep it up. It is 

 only to attract business away from a competitor, hoping at some- 

 time in the future to get back the loss. 



If the only thing at stake was the transfer of the farmer's 

 business from one creamery to another in a deal of this kind, it 

 would not be so serious, but there are still greater things at stake. 

 The welfare of the whole dairy business is at stake. The con- 

 fidence of the farmer is at stake. The success of the industry 

 depends upon a solid foundation, namely, the confidence of the 

 farmer and his desire to not only stay in the dairy business but 

 to go into it more heavily. 



When a farmer delivers a can of cream to a creamery and 

 he is given a higher test or added weight or a higher price, he 

 of course is encouraged to believe that the market he has been 

 patronizing has been taking advantage of him. Not all farmers 

 are misled in this way but a good many are. 



Every can of cream contains so many pounds of cream, it 

 tests a certain percentage of butterfat and the butterfat is worth 

 a certain price based on the market demands, and the quality of 

 the cream. 



Competition should have nothing whatever to do with the 

 first two items. Weighing a can of cream and testing a sample 

 of the cream is just a case of regular routine in the creamery. 

 There can be no possible excuse for giving the wrong test or 

 wrong weight, or both, except to take advantage of a competitor, 

 on the one hand, or take advantage of the farmer on the other. 



The price that the creamery can pay per pound for butter- 

 fat may be influenced by several things but it should always be 

 a legitimate price. By an illegitimate price I mean a price that 

 is offered to the farmer for the purpose of misleading him or 

 for the purpose of gaining his confidence to be violated later. 



Every man who has the best interests of the dairy industry 

 at heart should do everything possible to build up confidence in 



