The Newtown bee., 1902-03-28
The Newtown Bee.
NEW HAVEN COUNTY
SOUTH BRITAIN
CREAMERY TOPICS.


traverse these mountains and drag
through our spring mud and winter
drifts picking up milk at our doors
for 1Oc per can less than New York
prices has set a few of us agog. 1t en-
braces mainly those who have never
shipped milk and who forget the hot
weather and its souring influence, the
months when milk is a drug at any
price and the regular shipments on
the Housatonic road year after year
at tic per quart for months together.
During these months our local cream
cry has steadily paid tic to &c or more
for the same weight of milk, according
to it's richness, besides returning the
skim milk free to it's patrons. 1t has
never failed in a payment, is always
prompt, regardless of it's own slow col
lection of bills for butter, and has ST.
dom had to refuse can OF milk be-
cause sour or 'off'' in flavor The
price of milk has been unnaturally
high for some months, due to scarcity
and the price Of grain, and butter has
not been so high, relatively. But
these facts do not make our local
creamery Of less money value to our
people when we estimate it's purpose
and position in our midst year after
year. Unquestionably if milk values
are to stay up butter will reach up to
them-is in fact already doing so. And
our creamery has always responded by
paying price for fats relative to
prices received for butter. Surely any
opposition which will drive out our
home industry, which has certainly
proved itself worthy, is to be viewed
with suspicion. The milk-gathering
plan is only temporary arrangement
at best. If it discourages and destroys
our local market it does our commun-
ity permanent injury. The prices
received have been good, whatever the
agitatOrs have said to the contrary.
A comparison Of check stubs for the
past18 months prove the price of fats
to have averaged above 23tc per pound
summer and winter. In the language
of quarts, which seems to be so elo-
quent just now, it is between p and
&c for 5 per cent milk, 24 to 24c for At
per cent milk and 2 to 24c for per
cent milk. Besides the prices men,
toned, the patron received his skim
milk as premium and if he is thrifty
he has turned much of it into SO pork
or choice calves, making it net him 10
to &c per can. This same skim milk,
If fed directly back to the COWS pro-
ducing it, has an actual cash value
that is worth considering when the
present price Of grain is remembered.
If whole milk is to leave our farms to
any extent the fact indicates that the
Judgment of the people has under
gone complete change since last
March, one year ago. Last March the
effort was made by our creamery man.
ager and the butter maker to buy
whole milk in quantity that the man.
ufacturing of dried milk curd might
be introduced. But although the de-
mand earlier in the season appeared
to be for something of the kind, and
machinery was put in FOR this pur'
pose the patrons refused, almost unan
imously to let whole milk go, prefer
ring to keep the skim milk
themselves. We know the feed
ing value Of skim milk, we realize it,
benefit to the soil when kept upon thu
. farm and understood we'll thai
autumn would find us short of many
things that skim milk grows, notably
addition to our herds and the famil.
meat. Before tampering with the ex
istence of the institutions mentioned
let us recall the predicament Of man.
back town which has never beef
able to organize or secure a creamery
also the transient nature of the who'll
milk business proposed and ''look, err
we leap TX.