The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1900-04-19
The Official Paper of San Juan County.
THURSDAY. APRIL 10, 1909.
COOPERATIVE CREAMERIEs

attention to the fine held when tnE
county affords for the operation of one
or more creameries, and has suggested
that company be organized either on
the cooperative plan or as joint stock
company to build, equip and operate a
first-class creamery at whatever point
i'm the county may seem to he most
favorably located for such all enter
prise. Friday Harbor, by reason OF its
central location, its steamboat service
and its nearness to the largest and
finest farms in the county, probably
offers advantages superior to those of
any other place, but the point of loca-
ton is one which could very easily be
settled by those who would be most di-
rectly concerned in such project.
The San Juan valley alone can very
easily support enough cows to afford a
sufficient milk supply for the operation
of good sized creamery. There are
said to be one hundred cows on Shaw
island and there are large number on
Lopez and Orcas, within easy reach of
the steamers which touch here daily,
and much nearer than the chief source
of supply of the Whatcom creamery.
One young farmer in the Crow valley,
Oh Orcas, less than ten miles from here,
devotes his attention almost entirely to
dairying and stock raising and ships
his cream to the WhatcOm creamery.
He has his own separator. There are
two or three other dairymen in the
county who have separators, but not
having easy access to a creamery they
are engaged i'm butter making on their
own account.
Nv
In the April number of the Atlantic
Monthly there is an instructive article
by Mr.. w. S. Harwood on the subject
of cooperative creameries of which the
Post-Intelligencer recently gave all ed
itorial summary, from which we quote:
"Mr HARDWOOD has made study of
cooperative creameries i'm the Middle
West; and while i'm several states tley
have not been a success, i'm Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois the dairy
industry has flourished Enthusiastically
because of their existence. In Iowa
there has been reaction from cooper
alton to private ownership, but in most
of the other states joint operation has
resulted i'm profit. In one county,
where there are now twenty-nine CO.
operative creameries, the bank deposits
of farmers at one town are reported to
have increased from $50, 900 in 1896 to
$4,000 in 1899, not including the $780,
600 deposits of the creameries them
selves.
complete statistics Of the operations
of these concerns are not given, but it
is said that the volume of business
transacted by those in the Western
states was upward of $50 ,OOO, 900 in 1898.
This is business which has been built
up i'm less than u decade. Out of total
of $50 creameries in Minnesota, $50 are
now cooperative. In Wisconsin about
1000 out of 800 are run on the same
plan. In Iowa and Illinois about one
third of the creameries are co operative.
1t has been found that where from
thirty to fifty farmers are able to asso.
ciate and build and operate creamery
on the cooperative plan the results
have almost invariably been advant-
ageous to those joining in the enter
prise. The farmers contract to furnish
certain quantity of milk each day,
and the profits are divided according to
the amount supplied. If milk falls be-
low grade, dividends are reduced; and
anyone found guilty of skimming or
adulterating is fined or expelled"
49,
Now IL seems to THE ISLANDER that
It ought to be easy to find thirty pro-
gressive farmers i'm this county who
would associate themselves together to
build, equip and operate first-class
creamery, which would cost about
$1,000. Such plant could be success.
fully operated if it could secure the
milk of 100 good cows, but the expense
of operation would be scarcely any
more If the milk of 500 were handled
The larger the number the smaller per.
centage OF cost per pound of product.
A goodly amount of cash would be dis
tributed each month among the patrons
of the creamery and they would soon
find themselves adding to their saw.
ings and providing for their families in
better manner than they had before
found it possible to do. The farmer
who feeds his hay and grain to stock,
together with such root crops as cattle
thrive upon, sells his milk to cream.
cries and makes the best use of the fer
tilizing material of the farm, gets a far
better return for his labor than the one
who keeps little stock, produces little
fertilizer for the enrichment of lands
Impoverished by constant SUGGESTIONS
of grain crops. and sells his grain and
hay year after year at prices which
are often little higher than the cost oil
production. The COW has been the
mortgage litter of countless farms in
the rich states of the Upper Mississippi
and the history of creameries there is