TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
OCT. i 
746 
SQUARE BUSINESS IN THE 
“OBLONG VALLEY.” 
A JVIllk Condensing Factory. 
A fine location; a world famed milk fac¬ 
tory; clean an a whistle; paradise for 
can washers; cast-iron contracts; 
curious ideas regarding ensilage and 
linseed meal. 
The Oblong Valley. 
A short time since I visited the “ Oblong 
Valley ” In eastern Dutchess County, N. Y., 
and found It one of the finest and most 
prosperous parts of the State I have yet had 
the pleasure of visiting. The name of the 
valley comes from an oblong strip of land 
that was ceded to New York by Connecticut 
in exchange for some territory further 
south, which belonged to New York, but 
which had been appropriated by the people 
of Connecticut. The valley lies between 
two parallel chains of hills or low moun¬ 
tains, extending north and south, and is 
watered by a small stream that winds its 
way through the shorn meadows and green 
pastures, marking the lowest depression be¬ 
tween the hills on either side. 
The soil is something of an alluvial de¬ 
posit in the lower parts, and grows some¬ 
what loamy as you approach the higher 
ground, and a little slaty higher up. It is 
naturally fertile, and the scenery is very 
fine. The roads are better than the average 
of country highways throughout the State, 
and this, together with the variations 
afforded by thrifty farms, smooth meadows 
and bold mountain views, makes a drive 
through the valley especially interesting 
and agreeable. 
One thing in particular I could not help 
noticing—the average farm gardens were 
much better than I have found generally in 
other localities. Every farmer seems to 
have a large aid productive garden and 
fruit in abundance. The buildings, too, 
are kept in nice repair. Of course, there 
are occasional exceptions, but, on the 
whole, the Oblong Valley is a very 
thrifty farming section and with its prox¬ 
imity to New York and its facilities for 
reaching that great market, I should con¬ 
sider it one of the most favored farming 
localities in the country. 
The Borden Condensing Factory is the 
most Important manufactory in this part 
of Dutchess County. It is owned and 
operated by the New York Condensed Milk 
Company, which also operates several 
branches of the business in other parts of 
New York State and in Illinois. I visited 
the main factory at Wassaic. It is under 
the immediate charge of Mr. Noah Bishop, 
and an assistant, Mr. Gaston Ketchum. 
The main building is over 400 feet long. 
The buildings are all 60 feet wide and if 
stretched out in one continued row, end to 
end, would extend nearly a quarter of a 
mile. 
Handling Milk for Condensing. 
The milk is received every morning, ex¬ 
cept Sundays, from the farmers’ wagons at 
the west side of the buildings. Every lid 
is lifted by an employee of the factory, who 
turns It up to his nose to see if everything 
is all right and as it should be. Occasion¬ 
ally a lactometer is dropped into a can; and 
if the milk stands the mechanical and 
olfactory tests it is poured through a strain¬ 
er into the receiving vat. The can is then 
slid, mouth downward, across a bridge of 
iron bars. This drains the vessel and moves 
it to the wash tub. After it has been wash¬ 
ed, it is passed to another man who turns 
it over a steam pipe, and scalds it thorough¬ 
ly. By this time it is 20 feet from where it 
entered the building, but the driver has 
moved his wagon forward, hung his lines on 
a hook in the side of the building, and now 
loads his steaming hot cans as they are roll¬ 
ed to him in fast succession by the washers, 
and drives away to give place to the wagon 
behind. 
The milk is run from the receiving vat to 
copper kettles in a room on a little lower 
level, where it is boiled. A certain amount 
of the best granulated sugar is then dis¬ 
solved in it. It is again strained and pump¬ 
ed up stairs to vacuum evaporating pans. 
These pans are of copper, and heated by 
means of steam pipes. As the evaporation 
goes on a man stands in the room below the 
cans and draws off a little of the milk to 
test its condition. When he thinks it is 
about right, he draws the liquid from the 
vacuum pans into 40 quart cans in the room 
below, straining it again as he does so. 
The cans are then placed in a vat of cold 
water, resting on round plates in the bot¬ 
tom of the vat. When the latter is full of 
cans, the machinery is set in motion and 
the cans are turned round and round until 
the milk is cooled. In the meantime a long 
ladle is placed in each to keep the milk 
stirred while the can is being turned to help 
cool it and work off any odors that may be 
retained. The cans are then moved off on 
trucks to the filling machine, where the milk 
is strained for the last time—and here is 
one of the neatest little pieces of mechan¬ 
ism I have ever seen. The filling vat is 
a little higher than a man’s head. To raise 
the milk to this elevation two cans are 
placed on a platform just large enough to 
hold them and fastened by a little collar 
around the neck of each. By a little 
hydraulic pressure they are raised to an 
elevation over the vat, and the milk is 
poured in and the cans drained and return¬ 
ed to the floor automatically without one 
ounce ofmu cular labor. The filling ma¬ 
chine is also a very neat piece of machinery. 
It will fill 75 one-pound cans a minute on a 
test, and 50 cans a minute right along is 
considered a fair average. As soon as filled 
the cans are capped and taken to marble 
tables at the side of the building, where 
they are sealed. They are now placed in 
boxes and sent to the shipping room. Here 
they are handled over again can by can to 
see that there are no leaks, and then they 
are packed in boxes for shipment. 
They are shipped to all parts of the world, 
some large shipments going to China. The 
cans for foreign shipments are all wired and 
sealed. 
Not a Speck of Dirt. 
The cleanliness of this institution is one 
of its most striking features. The people 
who use this milk need not be afraid of dirt. 
There isn’t as much as a speck from one 
end of the building to the other. The floors 
are oiled, the machinery is polished, and the 
men get right down into the copper kettles 
and evaporating pans with sandpaper and 
scour them out every day. 
The engine room is more like a show room 
than a practical, every day working engine 
house. One big eighty horse power engine 
drives the machinery for the whole concern. 
The room is ornamented with flowers and 
specimens of natural history, among which 
is a two-headed calf. The floor of this en¬ 
gine room, like the other floors, is oile , 
and the aisles are covered with matting. It 
is well lighted and the machinery shines 
like a new tin basin in the sun. 
The factory is now using the milk from 
138 farms, an aggregate of about 2 800 quarts 
per day. It employed about 130 hands and 
uses up about 200 wooden boxes a day, and 
125 pounds of tin in making cans. 
Iron Bound Contracts, 
The contracts with the milk producers 
are made twice a year—in March and Sep¬ 
tember. The prices under the present con¬ 
tracts are as follows: October 3 cents; No¬ 
vember and December 3January and 
February 3%; March 3^ cents. For the six 
months past the prices were as follows : 
April and September 3 cents; May and 
August 2 % cents; June \% and July 2j^ 
cents. The contracts are in many respects 
one-sided and very arbitrary. At the same 
time the prices are comparatively satis¬ 
factory, and the monthly payments are sure 
and prompt. The last consideration covers 
a multitude of sins. His contract binds 
each farmer to furnish a certain amount of 
milk during the year; but does not oblige 
the factory to accept it. It requires that 
immediately after milking the milk be 
cooled to 45 degrees, and that it should not 
be below 60 degrees when delivered. It is 
to be delivered on spring wagons, and cov¬ 
ered with canvas while on the road. A cer 
tain kind of strainer must be used, and the 
cans must be turned down on a rack when 
empty, with the lids off. One dollar fine is 
imposed for each violation of this rule. 
No milk is to be delivered from cows that 
have calved within 12 days, nor from those 
that will calve within 60 days. The stables or 
sheds in which the cows are housed must 
be whitewashed twice a year—during the 
months mentioned in each contract—and 
special stress is laid on keeping everything 
in connection with the milk clean. The 
agent of the company is guaranteed free ac¬ 
cess to the stables and places where the 
milk and milking utensils are kept, at all 
times. 
Now, these conditions, as I said above, 
seem a little one-sided; still the good 
judgment exercised by the management in 
enforcing them prevents any serious fric¬ 
tion between the producer and condenser. 
Cleanliness and other essentials are insisted 
upon, but the farmer who produces good, 
clean milk has no trouble about other de¬ 
tails, and all are sure of their checks on the 
15th of each month. 
Funny Ideas About Feed. 
Here is the only clause in the contract 
which, in my judgment, needs revision. I 
(Continued on next page.) 
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