St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-04-07
BUTTER FACTORIES.
Where Creameries Can BE Esta blished tt
Considerable Advantages.

The most profitable branch OF hus
bandry at the present time is the man
ufacture of creamery butter OF furnish
ing the milk or cream from which it
made. Making choice butter is a
profitable as it ever was, and this car
be said of very few things connected
with farming. Creamery butter com
mands a high price, while only small
price can be obtained for 1nos1
of the products of the farm. That the
price of choice butter will al
ways continue to be high seem!
certain. This is nation of butter-eat
ers. In no country in the world Ii
there as much butter consumed accord
ing to the population. In some coun
tries only the more wealthy classes use
butter freely. Common laborers eat il
only on Sunday or during holiday sea-
sons. Then it is used three times day
by all classes of people, Most have OBJ
served that the use of butter is rapidly
increasing. The broiling-iron has tax
en- the place of the frying-pan in pre-
pairing meat and fish for the table, and
in doing so has increased the consump'
ton of butter. In slavery times the
blacks in the South seldom ate butter,
but they all do SO now. The civilized
Indians take readily to butter. Fisher
men, miners, lumbermen and cowboys
are all careful to lay in stock of but.
ter with their other supplies.
Persons who have eaten choice but
ter few times do not care to go back
to that which is poor. They would
sooner have smaller amount and have
that of superior quality. Restaurants
in most large towns attract patrons by
supplying their tables with very fine
butter. More complaints will be heard
in hotel or boarding house if the but
ter is poor than if any other article on
the table is of inferior quality. In buy
ing other articles at grocery custom
ers care more for price, but in obtain
ing butter they are willing to pay a
high price providing the quality is the
best. 1t now seems likely that cream
cry butter will drive common butter
from the town market. The major
ity of persons appear to prefer cleo
margarine to inferior butter, both for
cooking purposes and for eating on
bread. That creamery butter will long
retain its present price is somewhat
doubtful. As butter-making is more
profitable than grain-raising OF meat
productions it is most likely that it
will receive greater attention year by
year. People who give up other
branches of farming for dairying sell
dom return to them. while many give
up the production of grain, meat and
wool every season for the purpose of
engaging in milk farming.
There is scarcely township in any
of the Western States, not already sup
piled with one, in which creamery or
butter factory can not be started that
would be of great benefit to the farm
ers. Such factory relieves women of
a large amount of hard work, prevents
the necessity of fitting up a milk eel
lar on every farm, enables farmers to
realize much more for their milk or
cream than they COULD for their infer
ior butter made in the house, and keeps
them supplied with ready money
throughout the year Indirectly it
leads to the improvement of dairy
stock, to better methods of feeding,
and good roads. That several cream
cries have been started that failed is
certain. The failure of some was due
to bad location, Of others to poor
management and of still others to dis
affection of patrons. Ability is re-
quired to run creamery as it is to
manage any manufacturing establish
ment. The most approved implements,
if in the hands of one who does. not
know how to use them, win not turn
out frst-class article of butter. More
skillais required to use the machines.
and implements in a creamery than.
there is in most manufacturing estab-
iishments. sf.7ar
A creamery is not likely to be profit
able unless the milk of at least four
hundred cows can be obtained for it.
The most profitable creameries are
those that receive the milk, of from
eight hundred to thousand cows, half
of which have dropped their calves dur
ing the faltHfj BY haying'a study supply.
of milk during every month in the year
the creamery can be run at its full ca
pacity all the time. When this can be
done the cost of running the concern
is greatly reduced, as the machinery
and building are never idle and the
operatives can be employed by the
year. The management can also sell
the butter to better advantage. They
can arrange with hotels, boarding.
houses and private families for supply
ing a certain number of pounds of but
ter during every week in the year.
When this is done commissions for SELL
ing butter are saved and all the money
it brings goes to the producer. Few
who indulge in good living will now
eat old butter If they can obtain that
which was recently made. The de-
mand for fresh butter in winter is now
80 great that it is found advisable to
operate creamery during the entire
year.