The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1903-08-15
DAIRYING.

first question the thinking, conser-
vative farmer asks himself. When
considering the advisability Of start
ing a creamery in any locality, the
first thing to do is to ascertain if
the required number Of COWS can
be secured.
No creamery can be successful
without COWS. This is a very plain
principle sometimes forgotten. A
canvass should be made to ascer-
tain just how many COWS can be
secured within radius of seven
or ten miles, which is about as far
as milk or cream should be hauled.
If less than 800 COWS are secured,
another effort should be made to
secure that many as it is difficult
to operate creamery profitably
with much less than 300 COWS, tho
some of the most successful cream
cries on the Slope started with less
than half that number.
The cooperative creamery sys-
TEN, or banding together of farm
ers for making up their joint pro-
duct Of milk in one building, is
not a very old thing. It is only
about twenty years since the first
cooperative creamery was started
in the United States; but the bus
mess has grown at a tremendous
rate until, at the present time,
there are many thousands of CO.
operative creameries in successful
operation.
The advantage derived from the
present and modern creamery plan
as against the old style dairying
are many. By The use of the cream
separators all the butterfat is OBJ
tanned from the milk and thus the
production of butter is increased
from ten to twenty per cent as
against any Of the old methods Of
creaming. BY sending the cream
to the creamery it is made into
butter of a high uniform quality
by an expert butter maker and can
be shipped in quantities large
enough so as to command the high
est market price. When the milk
is separated OH the farm right after
the milking, the milk can be fed
to the little calves or pigs as the
case may be, warm and sweet, and
it is palatable and wholesome, and
none Of the evil effects after, expe-
rienced by feeding old and sour
milk will follow.
The dairy farmer will have an
all-the-year-around cash income,
which has many advantages over
the exclusive grain farming. With
the ready cash in hand. the farmer
will buy much cheaper than Oh the
old credit system. The merchant
can sell his goods cheaper for cash
and still make a better profit from
his business, as the same capital
can be used several times for the
purchase Of goods in the year and
less labor expended.
A herd Of twenty COWS, common
grade COWS, if properly cared for,
will net for butter produced after
deducting cost Of manufacture,
shipping and commission, about
Sl00 per month for the entire year.
Of course, many herds are made to
exceed this very much, and in a few
cases this has been doubled. To
this should be added the value of
the skim milk which should not be
less than $50 per month, whether
fed to calves, pigs, or sold. twill
require about two hours, morning
and evening, for two men the year
around to care for this number of
COWS and calves, milk, separate the
milk and deliver the cream.
There is certainly no other
branch Of farming which pays as
we'll as dairying. Dairying should
not be done exclusively in this Sec
ton Of the country, but rather di-
versified farming. By proper till
ing of the soil and liberal use of
farm manure, the average grain
crops can be increased twenty-five
per cent.