The Dickinson press., 1891-07-25
The Inside Of Creameries.

The Inside Of Creamerics.
DEVILS LAKE, N. D.. July IA. 1s91.-
To The Editor: Some time ago an az
icle by the writer on STOCK Raising
North Dakota" was published in
The Argus. In this article a branch of
subject, by no means the least i'm.
was given only a passing men,
sries.
It is a popularity of Il volatile
life that nothing is allowed to
Everything proceeds a%rtifioi.
fits and starts-everything has
it's "boom," when the expectations OF
are pitched far beyond any
thing within the possibility of realiza
ton generally followed by M ebb tide
equally extreme and irrational. SO far
as the creameries 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 WELL" the boomers
said. That this is true, we are fast
realizing, but these enthusiasts could
not afford to wait for a rational develop
ment; itmust be an established fact in q
day. Stock companies were 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.
&c.,. 49,. l:- loLk DDo~1n All not
realize the obstacles placed in the way
of a successful operation of the infant
industry by II sparsely settled COM
munities-sparsely settled at least
when compared with communities
where creameries nave been successfully
operated-and that there were at that
in easy reach of each point of location
to make a 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
scarcely any one financially interested
had the slightest idea of how to operate
q creamery, the only wonder is that any
Of those established have struggled on
to the present time. In thisage 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. 1t was this fact which
most of those operating creameries ig
nored. They thought a whole new in,
dustry could be established on North
Dakota soil by importing expensive
machinery and high.priced opera.
tives; so expensive machin
cry and high-priced operatives were
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 q paying basis.
In most cases the capacity Of the cream
cries was too large, and to get enough
cream too large o 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 q price was paid for
the raw material. The securing of
cream. which had been given very little
consideration at the outset, became the
most difficult and expensive part Of the
business. This was so much the more
ruinous, as the creameries were gener-
ally owned and operated by stock COM
panies, and the management, which
necessarily took both time and atten-
tion, was nobody's business in pnrticu-
lar, the operator in charge having moth
ing at 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 be nothing but
disastrous. To the average creamery
that has not been able to establish a
reputation for its products. the butter
market is just rs 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
NJ M that "beipg caught would be-
come the rule rather than the exception.
Why, know of instances where's as much
was paid the farmer per guage for his
cream as the butter brought per pound
in New York. 1t was not strange,
therefore, that as month after mouth
disbursements exceeded receipts, ever
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 q sam.
pie. A stock company was organized,
81, 500 in cash raised with o 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 tumble down ruins of
the building.
Yet, while SO far as I know, none of
the creameries paid the first year or
two; oil were not discontinued. A few
remain as a proof that the sboom" ele.
ment is not a~ll-pervading, andthat there
are men even in Dakota with foresight
enough to be willing to make a temper
airy sacrifice in order to gain d future
good. As good m 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 a capital Of
$4,000 was formed in the winter of '8S.
In the spring Of the same year q plant
costing about the full amount of the
capital vas put in. An expert butter
maker was seht for, and the creamery
was run through the season, with the
result that the company had to borrow
$4,000 to pay up outstanding cream
checks. The season of 80 The whole
plant was let rent free to May
j.. vile parties, but they too lost
money and abandoned the business
before the season was over. In the
meantime a good many Stockholders
had grown discouraged and thrown ur
their stock. The company was then
disorganized and the plant went into
the hands of q private party. The ex-
perience of the past two years. though
far from satisfactory, has not been en-.
tirely without encouragement. A gen.
eral interest has been created in stoch
raising. Some farmers have increased