724 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
Nov.  5 
LARGEST  CREAMERY  IN  THE  WORLD. 
ON  LAND  WORTH  $2,000  A  FOOT. 
That  the  largest  creamery  in  the  world  should  be 
found  in  the  business  center  of  a  large  city,  may  seem 
strange  to  many,  but  there  is  nothing  strange  about 
it ;  it  simply  illustrates  the  advantages  of  the  popular 
idea  of  cooperation  and  concentration  as  applied  to 
the  business  of  shipping  and  selling  milk  in  large 
cities. 
The  Chicago  Milk  Shippers’  Association  and  Farm¬ 
ers’  Dairy  Company  is  an  organization  composed 
mostly  of  the  farmers  in  Cook,  Kane,  Will,  Dupage, 
DeKalb,  Lake,  McHenry,  Boone,  Porter  and  La  Porte 
Counties,  with  offices  on  the  fifth  floor  of  the  Mercan¬ 
tile  Building,  No.  116  La  Salle  Street,  and  a  butter  and 
cheese  factory  located  in  the  large  brick  building  Nos. 
1,  3  and  5  West  Washington  Street,  Chicago.  These 
farmers  have  an  invested  capital  of  over  $200,000  in 
the  concern.  The  dairy  machinery  cost  over  $57,000, 
and  according  to  Messrs.  Davis  &  Rankin,  who  made 
it,  the  contract  for  it  was  the  largest  ever  made.  The 
amount  of  milk  received  daily  is  enormous,  and  comes 
in  over  17  different  lines  of  railroads,  from  points  in 
Indiana,  Iowa,  Illinois  and  Wisconsin.  It  is  shipped 
in  eight-gallon  cans  in  milk  express  cars,  from  which 
the  retail  dealers  take  their  daily  supply,  the  re¬ 
mainder,  or  surplus — 2,000  to  3,500  cans  per  day — being 
emptied  into  a  large  reservoir  from  which  it  is  elevated 
by  a  pump  and  distributed  to  12  large  separators,  from 
which  the  cream  is  conveyed  to  an  enormous  vat  where 
it  is  allowed  to  remain  24  hours,  to  acquire  the  proper 
degree  of  acidity,  when  it  is  conducted  to  huge  revolv¬ 
ing  churns,  each  of  which  turns  out  from  600  to  700 
pounds  of  butter  in  50  minutes.  From  the  churn  the 
granular  butter  is  placed  in  the  large  Fargo  butter- 
worker,  from  which  it  comes  worked  and  salted,  when 
it  is  packed  in  tubs  ready  for  market ;  the  packing 
being  the  only  hand  process  in  its  whole  course  of 
treatment. 
Of  the  by-products  from  this  creamery,  a  skim  or 
filled  cheese  is  made  from  the  separated  milk,  ana  a 
very  fine  article  of  black  paint  is  also  made  from  the 
skimmed  milk  without  the  addition  of  any  foreign  sub¬ 
stance,  and  the  manager,  Mr.  W.  A.  Dickson,  says  he 
will  surprise  the  world  with  the  various  products  to 
be  derived  from  milk,  before  he  is  through  experi¬ 
menting  with  it.  During  summer  some  separated 
milk  is  sold  to  dealers  at  16  cents  per  can  for  drinking 
purposes;  much  of  the  buttermilk  is  also  sold  for  use 
as  a  beverage.  Butter  and  cheese  are  sold  to  the 
city  trade.  Shippers  are  paid  for  their  milk  at  the 
end  of  each  month  when  the  price  of  milk  for  the 
next  month  is  agreed  upon.  This  averages  about  80 
cents  per  100  pounds  for  the  summer,  and  $1.10  for  the 
winter  months. 
The  counties  of  Kane  and  McHenry  are  the  two 
largest  shippers,  and  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern, 
Chicago  and  Kansas  City,  and  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and 
St.  Paul  Railroads  are  the  three  lines  bringing  the 
largest  quantities.  Consumers  express  a  preference 
for  the  milk  of  Jersey  and  Guernsey  cows.  No  legal 
standard  for  milk  has  yet  been  adopted  in  Chicago, 
but  the  council  has  now  this  question  under  consid¬ 
eration. 
This  butter  and  cheese  factory  has  a  daily  capacity 
of  9,000  pounds  of  butter  and  18,000  of  cheese.  It  has 
used  3,500  cans  of  milk  in  a  day,  but  tbe  amounts  of 
milk  used  and  butter  and  cheese  produced,  depend 
on  the  state  of  the  milk  market.  In  very  warm 
weather  a  much  greater  quantity  than  usual  is  con¬ 
sumed  as  a  beverage  and  the  factory  product  of  course 
decreases. 
The  general  manager  of  the  creamery,  Mr.  W.  M. 
Dickson,  regards  this  city  creamery  as  somewhat  of 
an  educational  institution.  Farmers  from  the  milk¬ 
shipping  districts  are  coming  in  here  almost  every 
day,  and  are  surprised  to  find  butter  and  cheese  being 
made  here  at  a  profit  on  land  worth  $2,000  a  front  foot ; 
and  naturally  want  to  know  who  made  the  machinery 
and  what  it  cost,  etc.  Occasionally  one  of  them  is 
very  inquisitive,  going  very  deeply  into  details,  and 
about  two  or  three  months  after  he  has  been  here,  it  is 
noticed  that  a  certain  district  which  formerly  shipped 
a  good  deal  of  milk  has  ceased  shipping.  Investiga¬ 
tion  of  the  matter  shows  that  the  farmers  of  that  dis¬ 
trict  have  organized  a  stock  company  of  $4,000  or 
$5,000  capital,  built  a  creameiy,  and  are  using  their 
milk  in  making  butter  and  cheese,  and  the  result  is 
that  men  who  formerly  shipped  daily,  say,  50  gallons 
each  to  Chicago,  now  send  it  to  the  new  creamery, 
where  they  receive  about  twice  as  much  for  it  when 
converted  into  butter  and  cheese.  On  looking  further 
into  the  matter,  it  is  found  that  the  inquisitive  farmer 
above  mentioned  is  the  leading  spirit  in  the  new 
creamery.  A  dozen  or  more  creameries  in  different 
localities  have  been  started  in  just  this  way. 
The  dishonesty  of  city  milk  dealers  made  this  city 
creamery  possible.  The  farmers  of  the  surrounding 
country,  becoming  tired  of  shipping  their  milk  to 
Chicago  and  receiving  dishonest  and  sometimes  no 
returns,  formed  a  combination,  appointed  a  set  of  offi¬ 
cers  and  shipped  their  milk  to  these  men.  A  vir¬ 
tual  monopoly  of  the  wholesale  distribution  of  milk 
was  soon  effected,  and  the  dealers  could  get  their  sup¬ 
ply  only  through  the  association,  and  by  paying  for  it 
promptly ;  thus  the  irresponsible  dealers  were  soon 
driven  out  of  the  business.  r.  h.  munroe. 
DAIRY  GOSSIP. 
“  I  have  a  good  farm  in  the  northern  part  of  this 
State ’’said  a  professional  gentleman 'of  this  city  to 
the  writer  a  few  days  since,  “  but  it  does  not  pay. 
The  cows  are  only  common  or  scrub  stock  and  they 
don’t  make  over  125  pounds  of  butter  each  per  year. 
What  shall  I  do  ?”  “  Get  a  Guernsey  or  Jersey  bull 
at  the  head  of  the  herd  at  once  and  grade  up.  In  a 
few  years  your  dairy  will  be  averaging  250  pounds 
per  head  and  later,  you  may  count  on  300.  Then  get 
a  good  silo  and  make  winter  butter.”  “I’ll  do  it,” 
said  he. 
Here  and  there,  all  over  the  country,  we  find  old- 
fashioned  dairymen  or  dairymaids  who  never  read  a 
dairy  article  and  never  change  their  methods.  They  set 
their  milk  in  shallow  pans  on  the  cellar  bottom  ;  they 
skim  the  cream  when  they  get  enough  for  a  churning  ; 
they  temper  the  churn  with  their  finger  instead  of  a 
thermometer  ;  they  churn  it  in  a  dash  churn  ;  they 
gather  the  butter  in  the  churn  ;  they  skim  it  out 
with  a  ladle  ;  they  work  it  several  times  and  very 
thoroughly,  to  get  out  the  buttermilk  ;  they  salt  it  by 
“  guess ;”  they  have  no  standard  for  color,  and  each 
layer  in  the  tub  is  of  a  different  shade.  Then  they 
wonder  why  one  tub  brought  25  cents  per  pound  and 
the  next  only  18,  when  the  quotations  were  about  the 
same.  Do  you  know  of  any  such  butter  makers  ? 
The  fancy  cheese  business  of  this  country  is 
reaching  very  extensive  proportions.  We  now  manu¬ 
facture  largely  of  Neufchatel,  Brie,  Camembert, 
Isigny,  Limburger,  Sapsago  and  Swiss.  With  the 
single  exception  of  the  last  named,  the  domestic  art¬ 
icle  is  in  every  respect  as  good  as  the  imported — some 
of  it  is  better.  Port  de  Salut  is  a  French  cheese  that 
has  not  yet  been  successfully  made  here.  We  shall 
yet  make  them  all,  and  make  them  of  the  best 
quality. 
By  the  way,  the  cheese  exhibit  of  the  Messrs.  Rey¬ 
nolds  at  the  Pure  Food  Exhibition  is  doing  much  to 
introduce  and  popularize  these  goods — especially  the 
small  and  fancy  cheeses.  The  taste  for  many  of  them 
is  an  acquired  one,  but  it  is  very  easily  acquired,  and 
one  becomes  very  fond  of  them  in  a  short  time. 
Speaking  of  acquired  taste  brings  up  the  old  ques¬ 
tion  of  the  comparative  flavors  of  butter  made  from 
sweet  and  from  ripened  creams.  This,  like  all  mat¬ 
ters  of  taste,  is  one  which  must  be  settled  by  the  whim 
or  caprice  of  the  public  palate.  To-day  the  great 
majority  of  butter  eaters  prefer  that  from  ripened 
cream,  yet  those  who  have  eaten  sweet-cream  butter 
for  a  few  consecutive  weeks  find  their  taste  com¬ 
pletely  changed,  and  prefer  the  sweet-cream  article. 
As  a  matter  of  accuracy  and  fairness,  these  butters 
should  not  compete  with  each  other  in  an  exhibit. 
Each  may  be  the  best  of  its  class.  If  sweet-cream  but¬ 
ter  is  judged  by  a  lover  of  the  other,  he  will  adjudge  it 
lacking  in  flavor,  though  it  be  perfect  from  a  sweet- 
cream  standpoint,  and  the  ripened-cream  article, 
judged  by  a  lover  of  sweet-cream  butter,  would  be 
adjudged  “  off  ”  in  flavor.  Am  I  not  right  ? 
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MULCHING  WHEAT  WITH  STRAW. 
On  page  653  of  The  R.  N.-Y.  an  Ohio  reader  gave 
his  experience  with  mulching  wheat  with  straw.  The 
following  comments  on  that  article  are  interesting  : 
I  have  not  had  any  experience  with  straw  or  any 
other  material  as  a  mulch  for  wheat,  and  yet  I  have 
no  doubt  that,  under  certain  conditions,  it  would  prove 
beneficial ;  for  instance,  I  think  it  would  prove  an  ad¬ 
vantage  on  wheat  sown  late  in  the  season  and  which 
had  not  made  much  growth,  by  protecting  it  from  the 
action  of  the  frosts.  It  would  not  heave  so  much, 
and  hence  the  rootlets  would  not  be  injured.  As  a  rule; 
there  is  sufficient  growth  to  cover  the  ground,  and  that 
affords  protection  from  the  action  of  frost.  My  prac¬ 
tice  is  to  use  up  the  straw  as  a  litter  for  the  horses  and 
cattle,  and  to  place  it  in  the  yards  at  frequent  inter¬ 
vals  as  an  absorbent,  and  before  it  is  thoroughly  rotted 
it  is  carted  out,  broadcasted  on  the  sod  and  plowed 
under  for  corn.  I  do  not  know  of  any  better  plan  to 
utilize  my  straw  and  return  it  to  the  soil.  d.  c.  lewis. 
A  Better  Use  for  Straw. 
My  neighbor  tried  mulching  wheat  with  straw  in 
two  different  ways  last  year — he  put  it  on  just  before 
freezing  weather  began,  giving  one  part  a  pretty  heavy 
dressing  and  another  a  light  one.  To  my  surprise,  the 
wheat  was  damaged  a  good  deal.  I  think  it  held 
water  too  long,  as  it  looked  scalded  and  seemed  to 
get  thinner  on  the  ground.  The  land  was  black  and 
well  underdrained.  I  am  led  to  believe  that,  as  a  rule, 
it  will  not  pay  to  mulch  wheat ;  it  might  do  some  good 
on  a  high,  dry  piece  of  land  ;  but  on  level,  black  land 
such  as  we  have  here,  it  certainly  will  not  do  so.  1  am 
sorry  for  the  farmer  who  can’t  use  his  straw  to  better 
advantage,  and  I  have  more  sorrow  for  the  man  who 
sells  it  off  his  farm.  I  have  a  large  yard  to  the  south 
of  the  barn  and  into  it  goes  all  of  the  straw  off  40  acres 
of  wheat,  stacked  just  as  well  as  six  men  can  do  it,  at 
thrashing  time.  I  stable  all  the  stock  and  bed  them  to 
the  knees  every  day  from  the  time  when  frosty  nights 
begin  until  warm  weather  in  the  spring.  Some  may 
object  to  this  on  account  of  the  work  ;  but  I  don’t. 
After  February,  if  I  see  that  all  the  straw  can’t  be  got 
through  the  stable  by  bedding  and  feeding,  I  begin  to 
cut  off  some  and  spread  a  layer  over  the  yard  as  often  as 
the  stock  have  trampled  the  previous  one,  as  I  turn  the 
cattle  out  on  nice  days  and  feed  fodder  in  the  yard.  In 
addition  to  the  straw  from  40  acres  of  wheat,  we  cut 
from  20  to  25  acres  of  corn,  and  all  of  it  goes  into  the 
barnyard.  I  sell  no  hay  but  buy  from  four  to  six  tons 
of  my  landlord’s  share  per  year.  I  keep  12  cows,  about 
18  sheep,  6  horses  and  from  2  to  12  hogs,  and  if  this 
number  of  stock  are  kept  well  bedded  and  the  stables 
are  cleaned  daily  and  the  animals  are  bedded  twice  a 
day,  there  will  be  no  straw  for  mulching  wheat  un¬ 
less  a  man  is  a  heavier  wheat  raiser  than  I.  I  make 
over  200  loads  of  manure  per  year  by  this  system,  and 
I  believe  they  will  average  3,000  pounds  each.  I  use 
all  that  can  be  profitably  utilized  for  top-dressing 
wheat  ground,  harrowing  it  in  as  soon  as  spread,  and 
we  spread  it  right  off  the  wagon,  never  piling  any  in 
the  field.  All  that  is  too  rough  for  top-dressing  is 
taken  to  the  clover  field  and  spread  where  it  is  most 
needed.  It  is  put  out  the  last  thing  after  the  wheat 
ground  has  been  plowed — generally  about  the  middle 
of  August. 
I  have  followed  this  system  for  seven  years  on  this 
farm,  and  I  defy  any  man  to  point  out  a  poor  spot  in 
growing  wheat,  corn  or  clover,  due  to  lack  of  fertility 
in  the  soil.  I  don’t  think  there  is  any  use  of  having 
spotted  fields.  By  mv  system  I  can  keep  my  land  up 
without  buying  commercial  fertilizers,  so  that  I  raise 
from  50  to  60  bushels  of  corn,  and  from  20  to  25 
bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  and  clover  to  my  heart’s 
content.  darius  Ross. 
Better  Make  Straw  Beds  For  Stock. 
1  have  experimented  upon  a  small  scale  during  the 
past  10  or  12  years,  in  the  use  of  straw  as  a  mulch  for 
winter  wheat.  On  the  whole,  the  results  have  not 
been  sufficiently  favorable  to  induce  me  to  adopt  the 
practice.  There  are  situations  and  circumstances 
which  make  the  work  of  some  value,  but  we  are  un¬ 
fortunately  unable  to  control  the  circumstances  or 
know  four  or  five  months  ahead  whether  the  condi¬ 
tions  will  be  favorable  for  the  use  of  straw.  Upon  a 
loose,  well-drained  loam  I  have  at  two  separate  times 
realized  a  benefit  from  it  as  a  mulch.  The  ground  in 
February  was  bare  and  frozen  very  hard,  and  the 
straw  mulch  saved  the  strip  to  which  it  had  been  ap¬ 
plied.  Under  no  other  conditions  have  I  found  the 
practice  commendable.  Upon  soil  inclined  to  be  a  little 
wet  and  heavy  and  during  seasons  of  more  than  an 
ordinary  amount  of  rainfall  it  seems  to  render  the 
straw  of  the  growing  wheat  weak,  and  decreases 
rather  than  increases  the  yield.  Better  use  the  straw 
very  liberally  for  bedding  both  in  stables  and  yards; 
fork  it  over  as  often  as  necessary  to  get  it  thoroughly 
decomposed  and  well  fined  and  then  use  it  as  a  top¬ 
dressing  well  worked  into  the  soil.  c.  t.  Leonard. 
Little  Evidence  in  its  Favor. 
I  have  not  personally  experimented  with  mulching 
wheat  with  straw,  but  in  1886  and  1887  Prof.  W.  C. 
Latta  had  three  wheat  plots  under  observation  at 
this  station.  Plots  one  and  three  were  not  mulched, 
and  plot  two  was.  The  yields  were  as  follows  : 
.—Bushels  per  acre.—, 
1880.  1887. 
Plot  1,  not  mulched .  25.06  32.71 
Plot  2,  mulched .  31.11  31.74 
Plot  3,  not  mulched  .  29.92  32.06 
Average  of  plots  1  and  3 .  27.79  32.38 
Increase  from  mulching .  3.32  . 
Loss  from  mulching .  .04 
The  two  winters  through  which  the  wheat  stood 
were  not  very  injurious  to  this  plant,  consequently  the 
influence  from  mulching  was  slight. 
Bulletin  No.  4  of  the  Ohio  Experiment  Station, 
