AMERICAN CREAMERIES.

Temuka Leader, Issue 947, 6 May 1882, Page 3

AMERICAN CREAMERIES.

The fdUowing speech, reprinted in the Otago Witness, may not prove uninteresU ing now that efforts are being made to start a butter and cheese factory in this district:—

President Moran’s Address at the Sixth Ann dal Convention.

We represent (said the President) an interest whose advance in the last three or four years has been marvellous, and now takes rank with the foremost in the State ; an interest that is as yet in its ininfancy ; one that enables the farmer to concentrate the production of his farm so that 5 per cent or less of its value pays the freight to the far Eastern Markets, as against 50 per cent when the raw material was shipped. It enables him to cultivate his farm more profitably than

ever before, and have it grow richer year after year. Under the old system of farming wheat and corn were the principal crops, <md in a few years farms so cultivated became poor, aud the yield of grain uncertain.

The wheat crop in this State has become so uncertain that farmers are fast abandoning it. More pasture land and less wheat, a« many cows as the farm will feed, well selected, well housed and well milked ; as many pigs as can be profitably kept. Such seems to me will be the model farm of the future. With farms so stocked we shall have

A CREAMERY TO EVERY EIGHT OR TEH

SQUARE MILES.

The farmer in lieu of shipping his corn, oats, and hay to a distant market, at an expense of 50 per cent of their value for freight, converts them through the medium of - the creamery, into butter and cheese.

Ope of our prominent citizens owning a number of farms in the vicinity of one of our creameries has stocked them with nearly 400 cows, and rented both farms and cows to a number of tenants at such figures as pay him good interest on the investment. He tolcTme lately that, on the 14th of this month, every dollar of rent had been paid for the past year, and added, 1 Where would I have been if those tenants had depended upon a wheat crop?’ . . . Our market is now at home. Instead of shipping our,butter to commission houses as formei’ly, a very large percentage is sold at home, and at better average prices than can be obtained by consigning to distantmarkets. Through the medium of the Cedar Rapids Dpry Board of Trade, the buyers and sellers are brought together. Sales are made every Wednesday. Scarcely a sale-day passes but buyers from the east, west, south, and north are there in person or are represented. The only limit to the sales has been the amount offered. Although this is a young institution, scarcely a year old, immense quantities of butter and cheese have been sold, and the outlook for the present year is that the sales will be more than doubled. Statistics are being prepared showing the comparative amount of butter sold at home and consigned during the year. The past year has been one of great prosperity and activity. Hundreds of creameries have been built in our State, and the production of creamery butter has been much greater than ever before. Notwithstanding ;this, the demand has more than kept pace with the supply. Large sections of our country, where creamery butter was scarely known three years ago, are now calling for it. The rich and the poor use it even at present high prices. The public taste is being educated. Give the people of this country fine creamery butter, at fair prices, and the whole question of how to deal with ‘oleomargarine,’ ‘butterine,’ and such substitutes for butter is answered. There will be none manufactured, for there will be no place for it, It is, therefore, our pleasure, as well as our duty, representing as we do this great interest, to meet together and advise with each other, that we may discuss and adopt such measures as will secure to our State the proud position she now occupies. In order to do this we must keep well to the front in practical knowledge of the best tools ta be used, and the best methods of caring for the cow and handling her product until made into butter or cheese.

In reference to the object of the Convention, Mr Moran laidWe will be. expected to discuss the best cow, how to feed her cheapest and best, how to protect her from the storms, how to treat her, how to carry the milk to the creamery, or to raise the cream at home, how to treat the milk after it arrives at the creamery, how to test its quality, how to set it so as to get the best results both as to quantity and quality, when to skim it, how to best secure the cream, at what temperature and acidity to churn it, in what condition it should be taken from the churn, how, when and where salted, whether it should be worked once or twice before packing, whether with a hand or power worker, the best tub, etc. The question of the best methods for manufacturing cheese will also no doubt be fully discussed by competent persons. You see that we shall not be at a loss for subjects to discuss. I trust that our discussions will be full and free ; that w e shall hear from the farmer, creamgatherer, route agent, milk hauler, butter and cheese makers, and proprietor of creamery and factory, and that, when this meeting adjourns, we will go home feeling that we have not only learned something ourselves but have each added something to tbe general stock of information. It is for tbe purpose of disseminating practical and theoretical information, and thus educating all interested, that such meetings are held, THE PROGRESS BUTTER FACTORIES HA\E MADE IN THE STATE. At the conclusion of the President’s address statistics showing the growth of the dairy interest in the state were submitted The list is instructive as showing the extent to which the creamery system is being adopted : Butler County reported twelve factories, a few of them only making cheese. Delaware County reported forty-five creameries, manufacturing last year about 4,000,000 pounds of butter. Cows yield annually from 54 dol to GO dol per head, The first creameries yyere started in the

coun'ry as an experiment in 1872, anp it was then prophesied there would be a failure, but the butter made in them is now the standard of excellence the world over. The farmers of Delaware County feed largely of sweet corn, which is the best for ensilage purposes.

Fayette County reported twenty-six creameries, all of them prospering.

Linn County reported thirty-five creameries in operation, and ten more in process of construction. One firm made during the year 250,000 pounds of butter. Marshall County has fifteen creameries. The flood of July r and the wet weather in September made the season rather an unprofitable one, but on the whole interest is growing, and a few more years will bring a great change for the better. , Scott County reported only two creameries, but many private dairies. The Van Burem County reported only one creamery".

Mahaska Count}" has two, Mills County two, and Cass County one, but all were represented as turning their attention in that direction. THE COST OF PRODUCING IOOLBS MILK. The evening session was wholly devoted to discussion of the cost of lOOlbs of milk. There was a wide range of opinion, much that was new being developed. The cost per year of keeping cows, which was a prime factor in the cost of milk was also fully discussed, about SOdols (£6) being agreed upon as the average, and the cost of milk was graded on the value of the land. On land worth 25d01s to 50dola per acre, milk costs 40 cents per lOOlbs; over 50 dols, 55 cents per lOOlbs; 75c1015, 65 cents ; and lOOdols per acre, 75 cents per lOOlbs.