Nevada County picayune., 1889-11-06
DIARIES ON WHEELS.
A Profitable Business for Farmers Living
 Near Large Towns.

A Profitable Business for Farmers Living
 Near Large Towns.
 No man ever embarked in a legit. mate business. coupled with a resolu- tion to conduct it solely on honest fair principles, without triumphantly suc- ceeding in the end, and bequeathing an enviabie reputation to posterity. Americans are nation of hucksters, 50 there is no disgrace for any one to sell milk from door to door, more than there is to draw it away to a creamery. Some black sheep in the retail milk trade, like occasional delinquents in other professions, have stigmatized the vocation they represent by adulterat- ing and diluting the milk. The per petual newspaper pun about water In the milk which we buy from the re- tailers has made consumers stoic- ally resigned to what they con sider the privileged fraud of milk men. Disregarding facetiousness. let us soberly inspect the milk business. and not condemn till we have just cause for condemnation. The number of people in this country who depend on the city milk-man for their daily supply can be enumerated by the millions, hence that avocation is fraught with sanative importance to the whole city population. In cities of moderate population milk-men are generally country dairymen with small farms adjacent. They rear their own COWS, pasture them on their own acres, and with honesty of purpose daily draw the milk yield to town and serve it out to their customers.
 The way to drive the black sheep out of the milk trade (provided there is any, and even if there is not, to es- tablish lucrative trade among hon. est competitors) is to encourage con- scientious suburban dairymen of small means to 20 into the business. If. In your particular locality, small fruit growing and vegetable-raising have been overdone, invest in three, five or ten cows as your land limit and means allow. and see what the dairy will do for you. There is more money in this branch of dairying on small scale rightly conducted than is often realized from a large butter-pro- ducing herd carelessly attended to. First buy nothing but the best cows; never mind the cost, as 1t is folly to start at all if you can not start right. 1 If you think that your probable cus- toners would prefer Jersey milk, and are willing to pay for it, invest in that breed. If not, buy cows that would pass as excellent butter producing ani- mals, young, vigorous and without physical blemish. Look as much to the richness of your milk as to the copious quantity. This is the main essential that will please customers and pave the way for loyal, steadfast patronage. Don't be fearful of a too small acreage; remember that contlg- uous to a city you can support more COWS to advantage on a limited area than you could on an ordinary country place Milk at $l per 100 pounds means two cents per quart, but you could sell your milk for at least five cents per quart, and perhaps more. The factories and creameries now-a- days net their patrons very little over 75 cents per 100 pounds, or II of cent per quart. So you see you can afford to buy a great deal of forage and grain for your limited dairy. Ground feed can be obtained cheaper in city than at sta tions in the country. You can handle baled hay with facility and you can also raise heavy crops of such nutri- tious roots as carrots, mangels and rutabagas.
 In the delivery wagon don't aim at any thing ostentatious, or accept any thing shabby. Let immaculate neat ness and sterling simplicity character ize every thing about the rig and ap- purtenances. Aim to have your milk pure, rich and wholesome. Use no water; if it costs you more to produce such milk and thereby curtail profit, enter the competitive race with less scrupulous milkmen with nothing but the most honorable and liberal trade motives In the end you will come out ahead, for such a policy is sure to win among appreciative customers. Conduct your vocation on business like principles; do not trust too heavily, and demand settlement with customers at stated intervals. If you were country dairyman taking your milk to a cheese factory or creamery for manufacture, n mod crate lactcal maturity would be desir- able, but as caterer to the fastidious tastes of townspeople, who desire 1t for direct consumption. it should be as sweet as when drawn from the COW. One requisite would be an icc-house. where milk could be refrigerated up to the moment of sending to market. A great trade is growing in cream as well as milk, for table use, and 1t would well pay amateur milkmen to make this collateral branch of their business. Only the rich can afford to dairy for fun; tho poor must dairy for profit; so, my friends in the vocation, if you are not wealthy, remember that profit cometh of perseverance and shrewdness. Money can be made in a thriving town selling fresh country
 l.A A..f