Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1881-02-09
AIDS TO INDUSTRY.
The Advantages Of the Factory sye-
tenn In the Manufacture OF
Butter and Cheese.
The Different Methods Of Organizing
and Conducting Butter and
Cheese Factories.


why these articles should no longer be
made in farm-houses. 1t il as practical
now as 1t ever was to make butter and
cheese in farm houses; but it is no longer
economical. Many farmers still continue
cheese because they have persons in their
They are seemingly forgetful OF the fact
that they employ them at loss, ~ they
can realize more for their milk than for
the butter and cheese made from it.
With some exceptions, more butter and
cheese can be made from given amount
of milk in factory than in an ordinary
farmhouse. It is also true that they will
be ordinarily OF much better quality.
They will, moreover, sell for higher
price In the market, partly because their
quality Is superior, and partly because
the facilities for selling are better. Pur-
chasers come to dairy factories to buy
butter and cheese, but they do not often
tory products are ordinarily of nearly uni
domestic dairy products. The former
can put up in attractive packages that
are not required to be returned, but the
reverse of attractive, and which must
generally be returned to the owners. A
large factory can obtain an extensive rep
utation for its goods, but small farmer
can, under the most favorable circum-
stances, obtain very limited reputation.
The manufacture Of butter and cheese
amount of hard work. 1t also saves much
%1,n IF No11 lore
building and filing of ice.houses, and in
the cost of vessels for holding, as-well as
in the matter of watts, presses, and churns.
The more extensively any business is car
ried on, the less the cost on given
amount of products. 1t requires less
labor to make hundred pounds OF butter
IN factory than to make five pounds III
a farmhouse. In the first churn is op-
Grated by steam, horse, or water power,
and in the second by hand power. What
is true of churning is also true ofmakinG
and packing butter. Few formers can
afford to use the best implements and
machinery for making butter and cheese,
but the managers of factory can not
afford to get along without them. No
person working but few hours q day at
any kind Of business can attain the degree
Of skill OF one who works at it all the
time.
1t person lives in good dairy region
it will not require much argument to
convince the farmers In the vicinity that
1t Is to their advantage to make the pro-
duction of butter their leading business.
Statistics gathered from this and nearly
every other country in Europe show that
in good dairy region the production of
milk is far more profitable than the pro-
duction of grain or of any other crop that
can be raised on the soil.
About three years. time will be required
to convert farm that has been devoted
to the production Of corn, grain, and
potatoes into the proper condition to
produce milk. Most Of the land that has
been under cultivation must be seeded
down to grass that will be suitable for
hay or pasturage. Boys must be drained,
and an outlet provided for stagnant water
wherever it may exist. Wells must he
dug and supplied with means of raising
the water in them, or else an ample sup
ply must be obtained from springs and
streams. The stock on the farm must
also be changed. The hogs, sheep, feed
cattle, and most of the horses must be
worked off and their places supplied with
milk cows. To raise q herd Of good
cows will require at least three years.
Buildings will then be required In
keeping them. It is not practical,
or at least it is not economical, to
make these changes suddenly. The
plan should be adopted and the changes
made so that they will involve as little
loss as possible. Tho stock should be
changed without loss on their value.
When farmers owning from 300 to 600
COWS, and living within q convenient dis
lance of each other, will agree to unite
in bringing their milk to one place to be
manufactured into butter and cheese,
there will be no great trouble in securing
the erection Of factory, with all the
needed machinery and fixtures. The
manufacture of lbutter and cheese by
improved methods has now become q
settled business, and there are persons,
possessed of skill and capital, who are
ready to engage in it at such places as
will supply sufficient quantity Of milk
to insure the success of the enterprise.
Before they will erect and fit up factory,
however, they will require q pledge on
the part Of the farmers in the vicinity to
furnish for term OF years the milk Of =
certain number Of cows. This pledge, or
agreement, is necessary to protect the
proprietor against loss, as his building
would be of comparatively little value
for other purposes than the one for which
1t il designed.
The most successful factories, and those
that give the best satisfaction to the
patrons, are owned or leased to indlvid-
uals or firms who buy milk of farmers,
manufacture it into butter and cheese,
and dispose OF these products as they
deem best. To do this requires consid.
cradle capital, especially If the factory
and its contents are owned by the manu-
facturer He requires quite large work.
ing capital in addition to his building,
maehinery, and fixtures. He must have
money to purchase milk and to wait for
returns till he can sell the butter and
cheese made from it. 1t requires consid-
cradle time for cheese to cure properly,
and the weather is often such that neither
butter nor cheese can be shipped at the
time they are ready for the market
Some times prices are 30 low that. it Is
necessary to hold dairy products for an
advance. In addition to other expenses
there is help to be paid, coal, rennet, and
annatto to be purchased, and machinery
to be kept IN repair. In consequence Of
all these expenses, the working capital
of dairy factory must be quite large, if
! the milk is paid for by the week.
It is customary for the proprietor or
r