i94 Co-operative Dairying in England. [july, 



dairies differing little in practice either from one another or 

 from the ordinary trade concerns. The Skelldale Dairy, near 

 Ripon, may be taken as an example. 



The milk is collected from the farmers in the district under 

 agreement, who are bound to strain and cool the milk before 

 placing it in the churns. In some dairies, as at Skelldale, the 

 collection is organised by a system of partial delivery on the 

 part of the farmer under which a lorry is sent out from the dairy 

 stopping at various agreed points upon the main road to pick 

 up the churns, the farmer being allowed Jd< per gallon on milk 

 delivered actually at the dairy door — this in itself being an 

 advantage to the farmer inasmuch as he is, able to take up the 

 returned separated milk, or whey (as the case may be), and save 

 a special journey for the purpose. Twopence per gallon is the 

 price paid by the farmer for the separated milk, and this is 

 deducted from the account, which is settled monthly, the 

 amount paid for the whole milk per gallon depending upon an 

 adjustment between the value of the resulting product and the 

 total working expenses. 



The ground floor of the dairy at Skelldale is divided into 

 three parts, one of which is built over, the upper portion being 

 really a platform at an elevation, to which ready access is 

 obtained from within the dairy by a flight of steps and from 

 without by a roadway. And here it may be remarked that, where 

 circumstances permit, the differing levels of the ground should 

 be taken advantage of and an inclined plane left, or even made, 

 up which carts can go, thus delivering the milk at a convenient 

 level above the floor of the dairy so that the force of gravity is 

 pressed into the service of economical working. 



The floor at Skelldale is of concrete, and a recess built out of 

 the dairy contains the boiler which supplies the steam for run- 

 ning the machinery as well as hot water for cleansing and 

 scalding the bowls and vessels and for heating purposes in 

 winter. And for the floor of a dairy no material should be used 

 except the best Portland cement, since nothing else will stand the 

 incredible wear and tear caused by the rolling of heavy churns, 

 which will quickly wear holes and grooves in the stoutest of floors. 

 A good plan is to mix granite roughly powdered to the size of 

 cowrie shells with the cement. Needless to say that wood or 



