The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-04-19
opoF. EMRRY's WEEKLY LIT
TER.
DAIRY SITUATION.

o,,osrgm3a h9vs suf 9red greatly be-
sauzs the price of common butter has
ruled ex ,esiingly low everywhere.
nseoI 3n5ty such wne OF COWS hnd
Tstls q 1ura4emsnt to enlarge their
herds or improve their mode of making
butter.
Tae only class OF dairymen who at
all te9l en30uragsd are those who have
sc improved their methods OF manu-
fsosurIug Jaas a Arst class article is
made aud placed in the hands of pri
Yste Customers at a fair remunerative
prics, or Ghoss who have through pa
tent industry established a milk trade
within thriving towns and cities.
W51sca crsBn3ri35 seam to prosper
while g8SEins from II to 2 cents per
pound net less tn3n OHIO creamsries
pay, yet 51s latter seem ID fail 10 get
ting patronage aud holding it af5sr ob
tainlag iE, AMI a large maj)riay OF
thsn % I'd the wall, Or are sold at a
song.
It is ssralge, too, that farmers who
live closs % 3reAmsries 10 nave usGEed
PATROLS 16 c3n55 Cd Is ceaGs per pound
t0r bu5Esr val pscsIs5 Ia mixing iE at
h0m9 sai piaciag i5 10 groceries at an
average OF I55 oIs-h4lt that prLc9, All
take GasIr pay / n Tns very highest
pricet gr)c5cI35 and goods that they
can purchase.
WHAT goes with this butter can be
best found ous Oy a little investig atom,
as it passes through several different
hands and aaalIy Into ''make-over fac
tories" Wnera iG Is purified, c0lored and
rechurned IN milk Of Tne proper acid
ripeness 60 add some aroma, and hun
dreds OF tons of it placed on the market
IS dairy butter.
OF course, the article is much better
shan n It's original condition, but why
must our daIrymsn suffer all the dis
sounti I5 Is from these latter facts
that the gigantic rrAh3 of oleomargar
inc has crepG lnGo every State. The
fact that 70 per cent. of country butter
is Simply a disgrace to the name OF but
ter has been the strength of the oleO
dealers 10 forcing an entrance into our
markets.
1t is not to be wondered that human |
iy refuses TO Consume the unslghtly
butter that Is offered beside the clean,
that Is daily placed beside 1t In city
markets.
Yet with all this in view, it seems
strange that the farmers Of every State
can sc negleGLfully contribute 20 the
dragging 90 Wn of what might De
deemed the greatest of our farm indus
tries.
The manufacture of so much of this
inferior article Is not at all a necessity, /
because the agricultural press has spent
thousands IU furnishing the best knoWl
edge possible In educating farmers and
fhelr wives now TO manufacture agood,
wholesome article article of table
butter.
Our conceit that our butter is the
best has for decades caused refusal
to reform, and on the other hand. our
sincere carelessness and apathy as TO
now little the stuff brings cuts a high
ngure In the solution Of the problem of
self government. While a few inteili-
gent, ent9rprIsing dairymen band to-
8esner to fight the great common
enemy-oleOmargarine-in its illicit de
termination TO destroy the honest in
Nustry OF an honest class of artisans,
NesFaad by and see the dignity of our
walton traIled In the mire.
While the best of laws are in exist
0uce 70 prohibit the coloring and the
sag Oh oleo, they are of little effect, be
Sause the enormous profits accruing
nun the extended sales of the bogus
%"cie paraiy 70 every avenue of legal
domain
10 not think that the dairy indus
~ ot the GIddle States must naturally
.aosu'sn and dis, but it is at this juno
%'e 5naV rapid improvements along
" lines mention ed must be forthcom-
W Or the decline will be more rapid.
Aus inter lies in our " hands
II'ouga the independent spirit OF
"efl'an enterprise in the production
'ne best Urgent upholding of the
Ih17s' dairy laws of the States and less
outer placed on the market will
b..a d demand for good butter, with
~ prices, other wise the fight against
sale Of an attractive bogus article