Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-11-08
CREAMERY DIVIDENDS.
Interesting Method Of Calculating for
Milk and Cream Patrons.

A method of determining more
satisfactorily the dividends to be
paid by creameries to farmers
furnishing the milk and cream, is
presented in a recent bulletin of the
University of Wisconsin Agricul-
tural Station entitled ''sOme cream
cry problems" prepared by Pro-
fessor E. I'll. harrington. The meth
cd now generally used, that of
determining by the Babcock test
the pounds of butter to be delivered
to the creamery, is comparatively
simple one when nothing but milk
is handled, Professor Harrington
points out, but as some Of the farm
milk patrons have begun to buy
farm separators themselves and to
sell the cream to the creamery the
matter has become somewhat COM
plicated. The question that has
naturally arisen is whether these
cream patrons should be paid the
same price per pound as the patrons
bringing whole cream. Both milk
and cream patrons get all their
skim milk, but one gets his from the
creamery, while the other does his
own skimming and retains his own
skim milk. When the cream patron
is paid and his cream only is taken
into account he differs from the
whole milk patron by getting no
paw for the fat in his skim milk and
nothing for his work of SWIMMING
at the farm.
The milk patron is paid for the
total amount of fat in the milk
which includes beth fat in the skim
milk and the cream, but the cream
patron may be paid for the fat in
his cream only. At some factories
this difference between the two pat
rons is adjusted by paying the
cream patrons little higher price
per pound of fat than the milk
patrons. Another arrangement
which has proved fairly for the fat
in his whole milk, 50 that both milk
and cream patrons will be on a
milk-fat basis This is done by as
Stunning a uniform skim milk test
and then add the skim milk fat to
the cream fat; the sum Of the two
representing the fat in the whole
milk from which the cream was
skinned. This takes no account of
the farm expense of Swimming, but
the work and cost of machines for
farm Swimming are balanced by the
better condition of the cream
separated at the creamery.
The cream patron does not prob
ably know how much fat is left in
! the skim milk when his cream is
separated at the farm, but it may
be fairly estimated to amount to
about three per cent Of the whole
milk fat. This does not mean that
the skim milk tests three per cent,
but that the fat lost in the skim
milk is three per cent of the total
fat in the whole milk; that is, milk
testing per cent leaves II per cent
fat in the skim milk, when the
entire losses of skimmlng at the
farm from the beginning Of the
operation to the end are taken into
consideration there is no doubt but
the farm skim milk will test as
much as IL per cent fat, which is 8
per cent Of the fat in the whole
milk testing per cent fat. BY as
suming this uniform loss in the
farm skimming, both patrons may
get their just share of the receipts
of the creamery by adding 3 per
cent to the fat in the cream de-
livered by the cream patrons. This
three per cent is not, however, adj
ded to the test of the cream, but to
the pounds Of fat in the cream. The
distribution Of money is made,
therefore, according to the amont
of butter fat each patron delivers to
the factory in his milk or cream.