Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-01-27
Sarm Copies.
A VERMONT CREAMERY.
North Ferrlsburgh cor. n. Y. Tribune.

This small Vermont village Is situated |
twenty miles south of Burlington, in one
of the prettlest sections of new England. |
II is not exactly in the so-called abandon
ed-farn district of Vermont, but about |
the same kind of land and agricultural |
pursuits exist here as in other parts of |
New England, where it has been conf !
IDENTIFY asserted that farming does not
pay. That the industries of New Eng
land are changing, and changing rapidly, !
no one would deny who has studied its
past history and its present condition.
The cultivation of crops that made the
wealth of the States in the early days of
our country is no longer possible under
the strong competition of the West.
But while conditions are not the same, it
does not follow that the land and farms
are worthless. Some of the more pro-
gressive farmers of the State have made
vigorous efforts to adapt themselves to
the new conditions, and the result has
been the development of the creamery
business.
This is one of the last and most inter-
esting of the changing industries, and in
this place exists what might be called
the "model creamery; but then it is
only fair representative of many others
that are scattered over New England.
All of the latest inventions and improve
ments are placed in these enormous
creameries, and one to look upon the
process of butter-making In the estab-
lshment of to-day would hardly realize
that twenty years ago the very primitive
methods of our forefathers were in vogue
in this same place. The cheeses that are
produced here and the grades of butter
manufactured are the finest in the world,
and no Western competition can crowd
them out of the market.
The capacity of the factories is large
enough to absorb all the milk for many
miles around, and farmers, finding ready
customers for their milk, have entered
into the diary business in large numbers.
At the factories the milk is bought by
the pound, and every one bringing it for
sale must obey certain regulations in
milking, keeping the cans neat, and
other points that pertain to cleanliness.
The factories generally have their own
= dairy, where numerous cows are raised
, for milk, but large part of the product
is supplied by the farmers who have no
other interest in the creamerles. The
number of cows required to supply one
I of the largest creameries in this section
is 1900 during the best season of the
= year, and prices range for the milk from
81 per hundred in April to % cents later
in the season. In the winter prices for
, the milk naturally go up, and as high as
e Sl.25 is realized often during December
e and January. a large percentage of the
skim milk is given back to the farmers
. after the creamelies have used all the
. butter-fats and casein. The average out
n put of the model creamery in this town
q is 1000 pounds of butter per day during
the best season, and about 10000
e pounds are produced during the whole
b year. During about four months of the
y year the creameries are quiet and little
II butter is made. Attached to the cream
d cry is "A cold storage house, where 60 600
It pounds of dutter can be kept for any
j., length of time.
i. Everything inside of the creamery i;
d now done by machinery, and a compare
IS lively small force of men is required tt
- operate it. The farmers bring the milk
/. once day, and it stands over night il
d cans with the covers off. The grea
L. churns start at ) O'Clock in the morning
y and the separator half an hour later.
" man at the creamery receives the milk il
r the morning from the farmers, and pay
'S them with checks which are redeemabl
70 at the end of the season or at certain
he specified times. The farmers of tn
t nelghborhood keep from three to fit.
cows, and nearly all the pastures ar
planted with the short white clover
Many of the farms that formerly raise
wheat, oats, corn and other agriculture
products, are now devoted entirely I
New England hills are clothed it'll il
and COWS feed upon their sides by tn
hundreds In this year every farme
can calculate closely how much he wi
make each season. There is no specul,
ton about it. The creameries are eve
nc ready to take good milk. and pay for
he at the regulation rates.
re The growth of the industry in We
a mont has been gradual and sure durin
~ the last ten years, and it is rapidly prov
nj ing better solution to the problem ,
, 3 how to make farming pay in New En-!
IL land than any amount of theorizing.
- is simply change of agricutur,
les methods and work. Instead of lars
Of wheat and corntields, the New Englau
o. valleys and hills are teeming with lars
ot and small pastures, where COWS al