The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1879-09-25
FOR TIE FARM AND FAInY.

| FOR TIE FARM AND FAluY.
| CREAMERY BUrrER.-People, NJ
doubt, spoke of the dairy business" Q,
long ago - when our grandmother,
used to evolve little hand-cheeses from
the depths of their spring houses, but
business" in any common acceptance
of the word, first became applicable tc
the dairy when Jessie Williams discov.
cred for it was Q true discovery and
then introduce the factory system oil
making cheese. So sudden and COM
plete was the overthrow Of the old
method, and the consequent develop
ment of cheese-making 20 important,
that . new industry seemed added to the
List. The dairy took its next stride for
ward when the milk, or if preferred, the
cream, of Q neighborhood was brought
to one charming place, called q butter
factory, q creamery"
The manufacture Of these articles, but
ter and cheese, on . large scale has
brought out an unsupported amount of
technical knowledge concerning then, and
the point has been reached where it is .
trade to produce Q first-class article of
either. A butter-makers' convention to-
day discusses questions that did
not exist in the Last gener-
alton: Deep versus shallow
setting; abstracting cream from new
milk by power; effect of different kinds
Of food, etc. Any body can make but
ter, but it is anybody's butter when
made. And it is not extravagant to say
that there are as many points" in the
best achievements in this department of
agriculture as in turning out q side of
leather or pair of boots. The rarity
of the best work in that line is shown
by the fact that the output of many
creameries is sold ahead for % cents o
pound, by the year; and some 60 much
above that figure.
All the time, however, plenty of but
ter, much the larger half, is going at
5 cts. and upward per pound.
The standard of excellence is proba-
bly, rising. but after all there is compar-
atively little good butter in any market
not gilt edged" but even good.
Now when it is considered that one
of the important products Of the coun-
try is butter, which amounts to many
millions of dollars annually, and that
more than half of the crop is sold at
less than half price, through defective
manipulation and unskillful marketing,
thereby entailing positive loss of mil
lions, it forms an unpleasant reflection,
and if told in Brobdignag, would not be
believed of SO thrifty q people as we.
If butter was the product of a city
establishment, like beer, for instance,
and the same raw material, with NO
more extra expense than that incurred
for suitable buildings and apparatus and
skill to use them, could by mourning
such expense be turned into O product
doubly valuable, the change would be
made at once. Neither Mr.. Sargent or
Mr.. Starr, noted Eastern butter makers.
have anything better than milk to make
their dollar a-pound butter out of,-and
this the resulting difference-the diff
ference between 10 cts. and $1.0O per
pound, 800 per cent. is all obtained by
perfection Of equipment, skill in making
and business ability in selling.
These three requisites are rarely in
conjunction on the farm. A few cows
do not warrant sufficient outlay for
the equipment; without it success is
impossible. The third requisite may be
developed with use, If used enough to
develop it. One remedy for the losses
pointed ont seems to be neighborhood, or
individual creameries; in this way good
butter can be made, and what is quite
as important-sold. As it is, too much
really good butter is bought at less than
its worth and mixed with inferior stuff
that costs too much. As with wool, not
discrimination enough is used, but
good and bad are thrown indiscrimin-
ately together. The best prices can
only be secured by goods Of uniform e1-
cellence, in neat packages, regularly
offered in sufficient quantity to make it
an object to sell them. The surplus
make Of few COWS will ordinarily 60
cheap without regard to excellence;
offered as above it would be certainly,
as soon as known, to 60 on its merits.
1t is not the purpose Of this article to
discuss the methods Of creameries
knowledge respecting them, to be Of
use, must come from observation and
experience. 1t was intended merely to
suggest the lamentable waste OF our
dairy system and to urge the import
ance Of making more butter in Q place
or less. Either make enough yourself
to be worth your while or have it done
for you in q creamery, or let the calves
run with the cows.