The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-08-15
Editor Gilbert in Vermont.

Referring to his visit to Franklin
county, where he was courteously re-
ceived and escorted by Brother Towle
of the Messenger, Mr.. Gilbert of the
Maine Farmer says:
Franklin county butter has long held
a high reputation for quality in Boston
market. This, together with the large
quantity made, has attracted buyers, so
that a trade has been established as
regular, and as much to be depended
upon, as the weekly recurrence of the
day. Buyers come from Boston weekly
to purchase from the makers. Many
of these buyers have followed the bust
ness for many years. A Mr.. Kenerson,
whom we met, stated he had made
his regular trip from Boston to st. AL
bans every Monday for fifteen years,
with but one or two exceptions.
The butter is all packed in the regular
Vermont spruce firkin and it is trans
ported in refrigerator cars designed
and used expressly for the purpose.
The day of our visit, June 10, six car
loads drew out of the st. Adams
freight-house and still another was
taken on at Georgia, the next station
below. This represented the sale, and
approximately the make, of the Franklin
county butter-makers for single week.
But changes are taking place. Frank
lin county is now headquarters for sepa-
rator creamery butter. The business is
gradually going out from individual
makers and centering at factories.
Within few years considerable num-
1o,, &c Go - ~,
are usually designated, have been
erected at different points in the county,
so that individual business and trade is
small compared with few years ago.
The most of these enterprises are ar
ranged after the centrifugal separator
plan. The whole milk as soon as
MIXED, or in some cases once day, is
delivered direct to the creamery, where
the cream is separated by centrifugal
cream separator and the skim-milk
taken back at once to the farm. In
most cases the proprietors of an enter
prise of this kind have a central factory
at point on the railroad equipped with
not only separator, but a full line
of butter-making apparatus. Other
separatOrs are located at other points
convenient to the farmers, where the
cream is separated and taken by team to
the central factory to be there made up.
In this way a single firm or individual
runs several separators, yet makes the
butter all at one point, and is thus able
to do much larger business than other
wise would be practicable. In some
cases the cream-gathering plan of work
is also carried on in connection with
tho rrha
butter, as here made, sells at a slightly
higher price than small lots of dairy
make, though the large diaries of first
class reputation keep very close to it in
price. But very little print butter is
put up by any parties, though small
orders are sometimes filled for five and
ten-pound boxes.
Why Vermont butter has a reputa-
ton in market is easily understood.
Sweet grasses, clean pastures and skill
full handling tell the story of quality,
while there squantity sufficient to make
it an object to dealers to seek it. This
quality is maintained on summer
grasses. In Franklin county little at
tention has been paid to winter dairy
ing. The cows run dry in winter and
make their butter in summer. Very
little grain is fed to the cows. Only
the common mixed blood is found.
The aggregate amount of butter made
yearly in this single county must be
immense. We had only limited oppor-
tunity to consult farmers on the matter
of the profits of the business, but the
fact that it is the principal business of the
section, and therefore the chief source
of an income for those who are en-
gagged in it, and that the business has
extended till it embraces nearly every
farmer, seems to settle that matter for
itself. Still further evidence is also
found in the fact that farm lands in this
dairy district bear a full valuation as
compared with farming lands in other
sections of New England.