1892 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
321 
PANY. 
At  Monroe,  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  on  the  line  of  the 
Erie  Railway,  is  the  creamery  of  the  Monroe  Dairy 
Association,  one  of  the  most  successful  of  its  class.  It 
was  organized  in  1881  by  a  few  of  the  progressive  dairy 
farmers  of  that  vicinity,  who  had  become  tired  of  the 
haphazard  manner  in  which  the  milk  business  had 
been  so  long  conducted,  and  who  thought  they  could 
see  a  better  way.  The  capital  stock  has  been  increased 
since  the  beginning  of  its  business,  and  now,  at  its  par 
value,  stands  at  $12,000,  though  a  small  part  of  the 
stock  is  still  in  the  hands  of  the  company  unsold.  No 
one,  save  a  producer  of  milk,  can  purchase  stock,  and 
the  amount  any  one  producer  may  hold  is  limited  by 
his  milk  production.  The  business  has  been  a  success 
from  the  start,  and  to-day  the  shares,  the  par  value 
of  which  is  $10,  are  held  at  $15  to  any  producers  who 
desire  to  become  stockholders.  The  officers  of  the 
company  are  :  President,  Charles  R.  Bull ;  Secretary, 
Gilbert  Carpenter ;  Treasurer,  George  W.  Thompson  ; 
General  Manager,  H.  M.  Morehouse.  Mr.  Morehouse 
receives  a  liberal  salary,  the  officers  understanding  the 
necessity  of  securing  a  good  man  to  do  their  business  j 
it  is  done  in  a  systematic  and  business-like  way.  The 
establishment  is  well  equipped,  being  furnished  with 
an  engine  and  boiler,  butter  and  cheese-making  appar¬ 
atus,  and  they  have  recently  added  an  Alpha  separa¬ 
tor  with  a  steam  turbine  for  propelling  it — a  machine 
which  furnishes  motive  power  without  the  interven¬ 
tion  of  the  engine.  Their  business  is  primarily  that 
of  selling  milk,  and  they  receive  and  care  for  the  milk 
of  all  their  patrons,  be  it  much  or  little.  In  flush 
times,  when  the  supply  exceeds  the  demand,  the  sur¬ 
plus  is  manufactured  into  butter  or  cheese,  as  may  be 
considered  most  desirable.  In  this  way,  they  are  in 
perfect  readiness  for  the  occasional  surplus  seasons 
which  regularly  occur.  There  are  46  stockholders  in 
the  company  representing  from  1,000  to  1,200  cows, 
and  an  average  of  about  200  cans  per  day  throughout 
the  year  is  received  at  the  creamery.  The  supply  is 
tolerably  constant,  holding  up  well  in  the  winter 
season. 
The  milk  of  the  patrons  is  weighed  and  credited. 
At  the  end  of  each  month,  the  total  expenses  are 
paid  and  the  net  balance  is  divided  pro-rata  among  the 
patrons.  As  yet,  all  patrons  receive  the  same  price, 
quality  not  being  entered  into,  so  long  as  the  milk  is 
standard. 
Mr.  Morehouse  has  entire  charge  of  the  practical 
business,  being  responsible  for  the  milk  after  it  is  re¬ 
ceived  until  the  proceeds  in  cash  are  deposited  in  bank 
to  the  credit  of  the  Treasurer.  He  is  an  active,  push¬ 
ing  man  and  has  filled  his  post  satisfactorily  for 
many  years.  Not  a  can  of  milk  leaves  the  creamery 
that  is  not  sold  before  leaving — no  surplus  from  this 
concern  goes  to  the  city  to  help  break  the  price  on  a 
weak  market.  One  of  the  advantages  which  he  has  is 
that  he  can  say  to  a  large  dealer,  “  I  will  take  care  of 
you.”  If  the  dealer  needs  two  or  three  or  mayhap  a 
dozen  extra  cans,  he  has  only  to  wire  the  association 
and  the  first  train  brings  what  he  wants.  He  has  a 
large  trade  among  the  dealers  who  supply  down-town 
restaurants,  so  many  of  which  are  closed  on  Sunday 
and  which,  of  course,  for  their  trade,  require  varying 
quantities  of  milk. 
It  is  in  the  organization  of  such  creameries  or 
dairy  associations  that  we  must  look  for  the  solution 
of  the  problems  now  so  troublesome,  as  to  how  the 
producer  can  get  a  fair  price  for  his  milk.  If  such  a 
concern  existed  at  every  shipping  station  on  the  milk 
roads,  there  would  no  longer  be  any  real  difficulty  in 
securing  for  the  producers  a  fair  price  for  their 
product.  The  establishments  must  be  owned  by  the 
producers,  and  not  by  dealers.  In  the  latter  case, 
they  are  worse  than  nothing,  for  they  only  aid  in  rob¬ 
bing  the  producers.  Every  creamery  controlled  by 
members  of  the  Exchange  is  a  calamity — a  menace  to 
the  producers — and  every  one  such  as  the  Monroe 
Dairy  Association  is  an  unqualified  blessing. 
Milk  Supply  in  Chicago. 
'  Many  articles  have  been  written  about  the  milk 
supply  of  New  York  city,  and  the  country  from  which 
it  is  drawn,  etc.,  but  the  agricultural  papers  have 
never  mentioned  what  that  young  giant  of  the  West, 
Chicago,  has  to  offer  in  this  line.  While  New  York 
draws  her  milk  supply  clear  up  to  and  almost  from 
Rochester,  Chicago’s  supply  comes  from  a  radius  of  50 
miles  from  the  city  limits. 
A  very  careful  compilation  of  the  daily  average  quan¬ 
tities  of  milk  hauled  into  Chicago  by  the  various  rail¬ 
roads  in  1891  is  as  follows,  each  can  containing  eight 
gallons : 
Cans. 
Chicago  &  Northwestern  Kailway...  .  4.785 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway .  1,366 
Chicago,  St.  Paul  &  Kansas  City  Railway .  1,300 
Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  Railway .  670 
Illinois  Central  Railway .  600 
Wisconsin  Central  Railway .  550 
Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Railway .  480 
Pittsburgh.  Fort  Wayne  &  Chicago  Railway .  400 
Chicago  &  Grand  Trunk  Railway .  378 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railway .  300 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  F6  Railway .  300 
Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  Railway .  283 
Chicago  &  Erie  Railway .  250 
Wabash  Railway .  250 
Louisville,  New  Albany  &  Chicago  Railway .  162 
Chicago  &  Alton  Railway .  72 
Total .  12,146 
Or  97,168  gallons,  representing  herds  of  about  4,500  milch  cows. 
This  would  give  a  grand  total  of  4,433,290  eight-gal¬ 
lon  cans  hauled  into  Chicago  by  the  railroads  named 
during  1891.  In  addition,  however,  must  be  considered 
a  large  number  of  small  dairies  within  the  city  limits. 
Chicago  has  good  reason  to  remember  these  dairies,  for 
her  great  fire  was  caused  by  the  widow  O'Leary’s  cow 
kicking  the  lantern  over,  when  called  on  for  an  extra 
supply  of  milk  at  an  unseasonable  hour. 
Not  only  does  the  Fox  River  Valley  supply  Chicago 
with  the  greater  part  of  her  milk,  but  its  Elgin  cream¬ 
ery  butter  is  the  standard  for  quality,  and  regulates 
the  price  of  butter  throughout  the  United  States. 
The  condensed  milk  industry  is  well  represented  ;  in 
fact  a  New  York  concern  has  a  large  condensing  fac¬ 
tory  at  Elgin.  As  to  the  breeds  popular  in  the  dairy 
here,  Secretary  Merrifield  of  the  Chicago  Milk  Ship¬ 
pers’  Association,  thinks  the  only  answer  is  that  of 
the  boy  when  asked  the  breed  of  his  dog,  “  She’s  a  first- 
class  mongrel.”  Notwithstanding  this,  I  have  seen 
fine  specimens  of  Short-horns,  Ilolstein-Friesians  and 
Ayrshires  and  their  grades  in  the  dairies. 
As  a  rule,  calves  are  not  raised  by  Western  dairy¬ 
men,  although  the  question  is  being  discussed.  The 
idea  that  at  present  the  efficiency  of  the  dairy  is  being 
lowered  and  that  the  best  way  to  improve  and  elevate 
the  standard  of  our  dairy  cows  is  to  attend  more  care¬ 
fully  to  the  raising  and  breeding  of  the  calves,  is  gain¬ 
ing  currency. 
The  average  price  received  by  the  farmers  for  their 
milk  was  80  cents  per  eight-gallon  can  during  the  six 
summer  months,  and  $1.12%  for  the  six  winter  months 
or  a  total  sum  of  $4,045,377.15,  out  of  which  the 
railroad  companies’  charges  were  paid,  which  ran 
from  6  to  15  cents  per  can,  according  to  distance.  The 
Western  farmer  is  but  little,  if  any,  better  off  than  his 
Eastern  competitor,  for  while  he  has  to  pay  higher 
freight  charges,  these  are  counterbalanced  by  cheaper 
feed  stuffs. 
The  Chicago  railroads  handle  the  milk  business  in  a 
very  slip-shod  manner.  The  farmer  brings  his  cans  of 
milk  to  the  depot,  puts  on  each  a  ticket  for  prepay¬ 
ment  of  the  freight  charges  and  when  the  milk  train 
comes  along  the  cans  are  loaded.  At  the  Chicago  milk 
depot  the  train  is  left,  each  milk  dealer  claims  his  own 
milk,  there  being  no  check  made  in  any  way.  Under 
this  lack  of  system,  as  usual,  the  farmer  “gets  left,” 
should  there  be  any  loss.  The  railroad  men  state  in  a 
general  way  that  all  the  milk  loaded  was  delivered  at 
its  destination,  and  the  farmer’s  claim  for  loss  will  be 
declined.  Every  other  class  of  freight  is  way-billed, 
and  the  railroad  companies  give  and  take  receipts  for 
the  goods,  yet  here  we  have  a  business  running  into  four 
million  dollars  yearly,  which  is  not  accorded  as  much 
attention  as  a  50  cent  box  of  shoe  blacking,  which  is 
receipted  for  by  the  railroad  company,  way-billed  and 
a  receipt  is  taken  from  the  consignee  when  delivered 
at  its  destination.  Milk  shippers  can  gain  reform  by 
a  little  concerted  and  organized  action,  by  demanding 
payment  of  all  losses  of  milk  and  cans  and  supporting 
their  demands  by  affidavits  as  to  the  amount  of  milk 
delivered  at  their  respective  depots  for  shipment,  and 
the  amount  received  by  the  milk  peddlers  at  its  desti¬ 
nation.  r.  syde. 
The  Copenhagen  Milk  Supply. 
Our  readers  may  be  interested  in  the  following  brief 
sketch  of  the  milk  business  in  the  city  of  Copenhagen, 
or  that  part  of  it  done  by  the  Copenhagen  Milk  Sup¬ 
ply  Co.  This  company  was  organized  about  12  years 
ago  by  Mr.  G.  Busch,  who  saw  the  evils  of  the  pre¬ 
vailing  method  and  wanted  something  better.  Mr. 
Busch  succeeded  in  interesting  with  him  a  number  of 
distinguished  medical  men  and  savants,  and  a  company 
was  formed,  with  a  capital  of  $5,000.  Three  of  the 
gentlemen  agreed  to  serve  as  an  independent  com¬ 
mittee,  without  remuneration  and  with  no  monetary 
interest  in  the  concern.  When  the  profits  on  stock 
reached  a  dividend  of  five  per  cent,  all  amounts  over 
that  were  given  to  the  consumers  by  reducing  the  price 
of  milk  to  them.  The  company  does  not  attempt  to 
give  cheap  or  cheaper,  but  better  milk  and  to  bring 
this  about,  they  hedge  its  production  with  every  pos¬ 
sible  safeguard.  To  begin  with,  they  make  contracts 
for  milk  only  with  farmers  having  healthy  herds  and 
they  pay  the  highest  price,  thus  making  it  an  object 
for  the  contractor  to  retain  the  business.  All  milk  is 
analyzed  regularly  to  see  that  it  comes  up  to  the  re¬ 
quired  standard.  Milk  must  be  cooled  immediately  to 
about  40  Fahrenheit  after  milking,  and  if  at  a  temper¬ 
ature  above  50  degrees  when  it  reaches  the  company, 
it  is  rejected  and  sold  elsewhere.  Competent  veterin¬ 
arians  inspect  all  the  cows  in  every  dairy  once  in  two 
weeks,  also  the  condition  of  stables,  etc.  A  competent 
man  is  regularly  sent  out  to  inspect  the  management 
of  the  dairy  farms,  the  quality  of  the  fodder,  the  cool¬ 
ing  apparatus,  the  cleanliness  of  methods,  etc.  An 
experienced  dairyman  is  also  sent  to  visit  all  the 
farms,  to  see  that  the  milking  is  properly  done  and 
that  cleanliness  prevails  during  the  process.  When 
the  milk  reaches  the  quarters  of  the  company,  it  is  all 
filtered  before  being  sold. 
Every  producer  is  pledged  to  report  immediately  any 
case  of  infectious  disease  on  his  farm  or  in  the  families 
of  any  of  his  employees.  To  insure  this,  the  company 
agrees  to  buy  his  milk  at  the  same  price,  if  he  reports 
promptly — not  at  all  if  he  delays.  The  milk  in  such 
cases  is  otherwise  disposed  of — never  comes  in  contact 
with  that  from  the  other  dairies.  The  health  of  the 
employees  in  the  city  is  looked  after  with  the  same 
care.  When  infectious  disease  appears  in  the  families 
of  any  of  the  city  employees,  they  are  suspended  from 
work,  but  receive  their  salaries,  so  that  no  incentive 
to  deceive  can  exist. 
The  original  capital  was  about  $5,000,  and  it  has 
gradually  been  increased  as  the  business  has  grown, 
until  it  is  now  $30,000,  with  double  that  amount  in¬ 
vested.  At  first  the  business  did  not  pay,  but  to-day 
it  is  a  sound  mercantile  enterprise,  paying  fair  returns. 
Milk  Notes. 
It  Is  reported  that  the  Borden  Condensed  Milk  Company  Is  about  to 
establish  a  plant  at  Oxford,  Chenango  County,  N.  Y.,  to  be  mainly  de¬ 
voted  to  the  buying  and  shipping  of  bottled  milk. 
Howell  Bros.,  who  operate  condensarles  at  Goshen  and  Pine 
Island  In  Orange  County,  N.  Y.,  sell  three  grades  of  cream,  which  they 
denominate  ns  20,  30  and  40-pound  cream.  This  means  that  a  can  of 
the  cream  will  make  20,  30  or  40  pounds  of  butter. 
Tiie  business  of  the  Union  Milk  Company,  at  95  Eighth  Avenue,  In 
this  city,  Is  In  a  flourishing  condition.  Its  trade  Is  steadily  growing, 
and  its  officers  are  much  encouraged.  It  Is  doing  a  large  wholesale 
as  well  as  retail  trade,  and  its  bottled  milk  business  Is  growing  con¬ 
stantly.  We  note  these  facts  with  pleasure  and  predict  for  the  new 
company  a  successful  business  career. 
Assistant  Dairy  Commissioner  Van  Valkenuuro,  of  this  city, 
Is  still  doing  some  good  work  In  prosecuting  the  venders  of  hog  butter 
and  adulterated  milk.  THE  Rural  proposes  to  publish  the  names  and 
business  addresses  of  all  who  have  been  convicted  of  violations  of  the 
dairy  laws  In  this  city.  The  man  who  Is  mean  enough  to  put  hog  but¬ 
ter  on  his  restaurant  table,  should  be  pilloried  In  the  public  press,  and 
The  Rural  proposes  to  see  that  It  Is  done. 
Now  that  the  Court  of  Appeals  In  this  State  has  rendered  an  adverse 
decision  In  the  demurrer  of  the  New  York  Milk  Exchange,  Limited, 
there  seems  to  be  nothing  further  In  the  way  of  prosecuting  the  suit 
for  the  annulment  of  Its  charter.  Knowing  ones  Intimate  that  the 
Exchange  will  not  longer  contest  the  matter,  but  allow  the  case  to  go 
against  It.  This  would  probably  be  quite  as  well  for  It  and  better  for 
everybody  else. 
Business  Bits. 
Trade  Mark  for  Peaches.— Prof.  L.  H.  Bailey  tells  this  story: 
‘‘I  know  a  man  by  the  name  of  Blxby,  and  after  he  went  Into  the 
peach  business,  I  went  to  see  him.  Out  behind  his  packing-house  he 
had  a  large  dye  vat,  and  some  men  and  women  were  dipping  the  tops 
of  his  baskets  Into  this  analine  dye.  Everybody  soon  learned  to  recog¬ 
nize  his  fruit  by  the  bright  color  of  his  basket  tops.  So  he  Is  making 
lots  of  money  out  of  the  dyeing  business,  but  he  takes  care  that  his 
fruit  is  carefully  graded  and  all  that  Is  put  Into  such  baskets  Is  of  the 
finest  quality.” 
Any  man  with  10  acres  of  corn,  potatoes  and  other  ”  hoed  crops  ' 
has  little  business  to  walk  In  the  dust  of  a  one-horse  cultivator.  He 
can  do  better  work,  do  It  better  and  easier  with  a  two-horse  riding  cul¬ 
tivator,  because  he  can  drive  closer  to  the  rows  and  regulate  the 
depth  of  each  hoe  and  the  distance  from  the  plants.  With  a  one- 
horse  cultivator  he  must  move  the  whole  machine  to  change  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  one  tooth.  The  Kraus  cultivator  made  by  the  Akron  Tool  Co., 
Akron,  Ohio,  is  the  latest  and  best  of  the  two-horse  cultivators.  Send 
for  a  circular  and  see  what  It  Is. 
“The  Rural  New-Yorker  of  April  9  publishes,  without  credit,  a 
cut  of  S.  J.  Arnold’s  combined  furrower  and  marker,  a  cut  and  descrip¬ 
tion  of  which  appeared  In  The  Farmer  of  March  5.  It  was  awarded 
second  prize  In  our  “home  and  farm  conveniences”  class.  Our  Phila¬ 
delphia  contemporary  also,  has  been  imposed  upon  by  correspondents 
who  sent  our  devices  as  original  ones.”— Ohio  Farmer. 
This  cut  first  appeared  In  The  R.  N.-Y.  of  April  11, 1891 — more  than 
one  year  ago.  We  simply  reprinted  it  in  our  corn  number.  The  Ohio 
Farmer  is  11  months  late,  and  gives  second  prize  to  a  second-hand  cut! 
The  following  subjects  have  been  selected  for  the  prize  articles  to 
be  written  by  the  Cornell  students.  James  E.  Rice,  Ithaca,  will  furnish 
full  particulars: 
1.  The  Influence  of  farm  life  upon  the  character  of  the  nation. 
2.  Do  agricultural  colleges  educate  away  from  the  farm? 
3.  The  value  of  a  college  education  from  the  standpoint  of  a  prac¬ 
tical  farmer. 
4  What  scientific  Investigation  Is  destined  to  do  in  horticulture. 
5.  What  scientific  Investigation  Is  destined  to  do  In  agriculture. 
6.  What  scientific  Investigation  is  destined  to  do  in  dairying. 
7.  What  scientific  Investigation  Is  detlned  to  do  In  poultry  culture. 
8.  8hould  farmers  organize  for  political  action? 
9.  The  financial  condition  of  the  farmer,  as  shown  by  his  failures  and 
successes. 
10.  The  relation  of  good  roads  to  the  intelligence  of  a  farming  com¬ 
munity. 
11.  The  Influence  of  rural  life  upon  the  mental  development  of  the 
farmer. 
12.  The  Influence  of  rural  life  upon  the  physical  development  of  the 
farmer. 
13.  The  relation  of  the  college  educated  farmer  to  his  community. 
14.  The  ideal  agricultural  college. 
15.  The  social  condition  of  the  farmer,  how  may  It  be  best  Improved? 
16.  The  value  of  an  agricultural  college  education. 
17.  Agricultural  fairs,  their  scope  and  improvement. 
Other  subjects  relating  to  agriculture  may  be  chosen. 
