Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1891-07-30
The Inside Of Creameries.

The Inside Of Creameries.
DEVILS LAKE., N. D.. July IA. 1891
To The Editor: Some time ago an ar
ticle by the writer on STOCK Raising
in North Dakota" was published in
The Argus. In this article branch of
the subject, by no means the least inn
portant, was given only a passing men.
ton. refer to the subject of Dream
cries.
1t is popularity of our volatile
western life that nothing is allowed to
develop by natural and rational
growth. Everything proceeds artifci-
ally-by fits and starts-everything has
it's "boom,'' when the expectations of
everybody are pitched far beyond any
thing within the possibility of realiza.
ton, generally followed by an ebb tide
equally extreme and irrational So far
as the cresmeries are concerned we
have now apparently reached this sec.
ond stage The ''creamery boom"
struck us four or five years ago .Isn t
Dakota the garden spot of the world
Aren' t we beating the record in wheat
raising-why can't we do it in raising
stock and butter as WE'LL" the boomers
said. That this is true, we are fast
realizing, but these enthusiasts could
not afford to wait for rational develop.
ment; it must be an established fact in a
day. Stock companies we're organized
right and left and every town must have
q creamery. The only thing most of
them have left of these is the sad exper-
ienoe and q big debt People did not
realize the obstacles placed in the way
of successful operation of the infant
industry by our sparsely settled com.
munities-sparsely settled at least
when compared with communities
where creameries nave been successfully
operated-and that there were at that
time not enough COWS with
in easy reach of each point of location
to make paying business possible
When you add to this that nearly all
creameries we're owned and operated by
''town. people," of whom the farmers at
all times are suspicious. and that
scarcely any one financially interested
had the slightest idea of how to operate
creamery, the only wonder is that any
of those established have struggled on
to the present time. In this age of keen
competition any business, to have a mar
gin, must be characterized by an intelli.
gent cooperation of all on whom it de.
ponds and who are connected with it,
and economy and skill in the execution
Of every detail. It was this fact which
most of those operating creameries ig
nored. They thoughts whole new in.
dustry could be established on North
Dakota soil by importing expensive
machinery and high priced opera
tives; SO expensive machln
cry and high. priced operatives we're
imported and set to work But the best
of machinery and OF operatives must
have raw material sufficiently cheap and
in sufficient quantity to be able to turn
out finished products on paying basis.
In most cases the capacity of the cream
cries was too large, and to get enough
cream too large territory had to be
traversed, and to induce farmers
naturally shy Of the business to sell
cream and to go into stock raising more
extensively, too big price was paid for
the raw material. The securing of
consideration at the outset, became the
business. This was so much the more
ruinous, as the creameries were gener-
ally owned and operated by stock COM
necessarily took both time and atten-
ton, was nobody's business in particu-
lar, the operator in charge having moth
ing ut stake did not care whether
the business paid or not, and
the owners of stock were all interested
IN some other business, and had neither
time no inclination to take hold of the
affairs of the creamery-so these are
generally left to manage themselves,
with results that could BIZ nothing but
disastrous. To the average creamery
that has not been able to establish
reputation for its products. the butter
market is just fs treacherous as the
wheat market is to the farmer, and it
requires the closest attention on the
part of those in charge to keep from
'.getting caught But when there
is no one in charge it ought to surprise
no one that 'being caught would be-
come the rule rather than the exception.
Wuy, know OF instances whereas much
was paid the farmer per guage for his
cream as the butter brought per pound
in New York. It was not strange,
therefore, that as month after month
disbursements exceeded receipts, even
the most enthusiastic lost heart, stock
holders threw up their stock, and one
by one the creameries closed.
The one here at Devils Lake is a sam
pie. A stock company was organized,
81, 500 in cash raised with hurrah, and
plant put in. The cash was sunk in
two months, the creamery closed, and
as the manufacturers were glad enough
to take back the machinery, nothing is
now left but the tamble down ruins of
the building.
Yet, while so far as I know. none of
the creameries paid the first year or
two; all were not discontinued. A few
remain as proof that the "boom" ele.
ment is not all-peryading, and that there
are men even in Dakota with foresight
enough to be willing to make temper
airy sacrifice in order to gain future
good. As good an illustration of this
fact as can be found, I think, is fur
nished by the history of the Coopers.
town creamery.
A stock company with capital of
$4,000 was formed in the winter of '8S.
In the spring of the same year plant
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